• Fibers and Polymers
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.27-31
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• 2003

A major concern in solvent extraction process is the loss of extractant into the aqueous phase due to its slight solubility in the aqueous phase. Similarly, in membrane extraction processes, extractant loss through extractant leakage from the membrane into the aqueous phase is also a concern. Several published membrane extraction studies using Aliquat 336 ai the extractant, have expressed this concern, but none has studied extractant leakage quantitatively. It is the authors' opinion that the extractant leakage should be considered at a technical parameter of a membrane. In our laboratory active progress has been made in using Aliquat 336 ‘entangled’ into the polymer membranes to remove heavy metal ions from wastewater samples. In this work, we studied the loss of Aliquat 336 from the point of view of its solubility in aqueous solutions. The results showed that the solubilities or Aliquat 3,36 in an aqueous phase acidified with 2 M HCI it about 0.1 g/100 m/ of the solution. This figure provides a useful guideline for evaluating the leakage of the Aliquatoat 336 extractant from the membranes.