Facilitated supported liquid membrane transport of Hg2+ using calix[4]arene derivatives

Abstract

The transport behavior of Hg2+ from aqueous solution through a flat-sheet supported liquid membrane has been investigated by the use of calix[4]arene derivatives (1 and 2) as carriers and Celgard 2400 and Celgard 2500 as the solid support. The effect of solvent type and anions such as chloride and nitrate ions on the transport of Hg2+ was examined. A Danesi mass transfer model was used to calculate the permeability coefficients for each parameter studied. The highest values of permeability were obtained with 2-nitrophenyloctyl-ether (NPOE) solvent and the influence was found to be in the order of NPOE>chloroform>xylene. The transport efficiency on the liquid membrane transport was dependent on the type of solvent, anion, and carrier.