4-(5-Nonyl)pyridine as an extractant for cobalt thiocyanate complexes from mineral acid solutions

The partition behaviour of cobalt into 4-(5-nonyl)pyridine (NPy) in benzene from aqueous hydrochloric, nitric and sulfuric acid media containing variable amounts of potassium thiocyanate is described. Cobalt is quantitatively extracted by NPy from 0.1–1M KSCN solutions at 0.01 M concentration of the mineral acids. The extraction mechanism and the possible compositions of the extracted species are discussed. The effects of foreign salts on the extraction of cobalt from three mineral acid solutions are reported. Several elements including those which are of some interest in connection with the separation of cobalt were tested for extraction from 0.01 M solutions of mineral acids 0.3 M with respect to KSCN and their factors for separation from cobalt were estimated.