Investigation of a multi-dropped liquid membrane system for the transport of uranium ions with tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide

Abstract

The kinetics of U(VI) ion transport from an aqueous donor phase to an aqueous acceptor phase were investigated using a recently designed system, the multi-dropped liquid membrane system (MDLM). Equilibrium and kinetic studies were performed involving the extraction of U(VI) from an aqueous nitrate medium into tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide (TOPO). The influences of temperature, carrier, and donor phase concentrations were investigated. U (VI) was extracted from the donor phase to the acceptor in 45 min with an extraction efficiency of about 99.62% under optimum conditions. The interface reactions' kinetic parameters (k(1), k(2), C-B(max), t(B)(max), Jd(max), Ja(max)) were estimated on the assumption of two successive, irreversible first-order reactions. This study investigated the conditions of transport by TOPO in the extraction of U(VI) ions in the MDLM system and obtained successful results.