Release of Cu from SDS micellar solution using complexing agents

Micellar enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF) is a surfactant-based separation process and it can remove heavy metal ions from aqueous stream effectively. However, it is necessary to recover and reuse surfactants for economic feasibility because surfactant is expensive. Foam fractionation was investigated for both anionic and cationic surfactant recovery. Chelating agent such as ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) was studied for the separation of heavy metals from surfactant solution. Anionic surfactants bound with heavy metals can be recovered by lowering pH (acidification). In this study, citric acid and imminodiacetic acid (IDA) were applied to release copper from sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) micellar solution and compared with EDTA. Precipitation of copper by ferricynide and sodium sulfide were also investigated. As a result, ca. 100 % of copper was released from SDS micellar solution by 5 mM of EDTA and citric acid. And 3.3 mM of ferricyanide formed precipitate with 82.7 % of copper. 5 mM of IDA and sodium sulfide released or formed precipitate 82.5 % and 58.9 % of copper, respectively. Citric acid is harmless to environments and ferricyanide precipitates with Cu easily. Therefore, it is considered that citric acid and ferricyanide have competiveness over a famous chelating agent, EDTA, for the separation of Cu from SDS solution.