Extraction of cobalt (II) and nickel (II) by a solvent impregnated resin containing bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)monothiophosphinic acid

In the present work, studies have been conducted on the equilibrium distribution of cobalt (II) and nickel (II) between aqueous hydrochloric solution and macromolecular resin impregnated with bis(2,4,4-trimethylpentyl)monothiophosphinic acid (Cyanex302, HL). Effects of extraction time, pH values, metal ion concentration, and temperature were investigated. Analysis of the results shows that the extraction of the two metal ions can be explained assuming the formation of metal complexes in the resin phase with a general composition ML ₂. An extraction reaction is proposed and the equilibrium constants of the complexes were determined. The Freundlich isotherm and thermodynamic quantities, i.e., ΔG, ΔH and ΔS were also obtained. Both of the extraction reactions of cobalt (II) and nickel (II) are endothermic ones. The efficiency of the resin in the separation of cobalt (II) and nickel (II) is provided according to the separation factors. Under the experimental conditions employed, pH₅₀ values for cobalt (II) and nickel (II) are 3.76, 5.01, respectively. The logarithmic value of separation factor was calculated as 2.50.