Kinetic Study of Mercury(II) Transport through a Bulk Liquid Membrane Using Cyanex 301 as Carrier

A kinetic study of Hg(II) ions transport through a bulk liquid membrane (BLM) was investigated. The commercially available liquid bis(2,4,4‐trimethyl(pentyl) dithiophosphinic acid) (Cyanex 301) was employed as mobile carrier. The influences of the carrier concentration in the liquid membrane, HNO₃ concentration in the feed phase, type of organic solvent, composition of the receiving phase, and stirring speed on mass transfer were studied. Various solvents including CH₂Cl₂, CHCl₃, C₂H₄Cl₂ and CCl₄ were used as organic membrane. Among the solvents, CHCl₃ provided the superior results. The kinetic parameters (k₁, k₂, R_m^max, t^max, J_d^max, and J_a^max) were calculated for the interface reaction assuming two consecutive, irreversible first‐order reactions. The analysis of Hg(II) accumulation in liquid membrane and the rate‐controlling step under different experimental conditions were elucidated. The experiments demonstrated that Cyanex 301 is an appropriate carrier for Hg(II) transport through liquid membrane.