Copper recovery from ore by liquid–liquid extraction using aqueous two-phase system

Abstract

We investigated the extraction behavior of Cu(II) in the aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) formed by (L35+MgSO(4)+H(2)O) or (L35+(NH(4))(2)SO(4)+H(2)O) in the presence of the extracting agent 1-(2-pyridylazo)-2-naphthol (PAN). At pH=3 and a PAN concentration of 0.285 mmol kg(-1), both ATPS lead to the effective separation of Cu(II) from other metallic ions (Zn(II), Co(II), Ni(II) and Fe(III)). High separation factors range between 1000 and 10,000 were obtained for the extraction of Cu(II) and concomitant metallic ions. This ATPS was used for the extraction of Cu(II) from a leached ore concentrate with a extraction percentage of 90.4 ± 1.1%; other metals were mainly located in the bottom phase.

Aqueous two-phase system (ATPS): an overview and advances in its applications

“…These cores have the potential to solubilize the water insoluble agents and its hydrophobic metallic complexes [140]. Triblock-copolymer based ATPSs have been reported for the extraction and separation different metal and metal ions [133–135, 141, 142]. …”

Selective removal of calcium from sulfate solutions containing magnesium and nickel using aqueous two phase systems (ATPS)

“…The choice of copolymer L64 and sodium tartrate as constituents of the ATPS, as well as the Tie-Line Length (TLL), was established based on preliminary tests and previous studies (Da Silva et al, 2005;De Lemos et al, 2012;Rodrigues et al, 2010). The TLL is an important thermodynamic parameter in ATPS that expresses the difference in intensive thermodynamic functions between the top and bottom phases, at a constant pressure and temperature.…”

“…In this context, aqueous two phase systems (ATPS) represent a promising alternative technique for the selective extraction of metal ions (Bulgariu and Bulgariu, 2008;De Lemos et al, 2012;Roy and Lahiri, 2009). Such systems are formed under specific thermodynamic conditions (temperature, pressure, and concentration) from the mixture of two aqueous solutions of macromolecules (polymers, for instance), which are physico-chemically incompatible (Rodrigues et al, 2011); or a macromolecule and an electrolyte (Rodrigues et al, 2010); or two types of electrolytes (Bridges et al, 2007).…”

Determination of copper, nickel, manganese and cadmium ions in aqueous samples by flame atomic absorption spectrometry after simultaneous coprecipitation with Co(OH)2

“…However the main two problems for the determination of heavy metal ions by AAS are low levels of metal ions and interferic influences of main components of samples (Hassanien and Abou-El-Sherbini, 2006;Mohammadi et al, 2013b). In order to solve these important problems, various preconcentration/separation methods including liquid liquid extraction (Lemos et al, 2012;Mirzaei et al, 2011), hydride generation (Miravet et al, 2004), cloud point extraction (Mohammadi et al, 2013b), dispersive liquid liquid microextraction (Mohammadi et al, in press) and solid phase extraction (Dadfarnia et al, 2007;Mohammadi et al, 2010;Sabermahani et al, 2013;Yacoub et al, 2013;Afzali et al, 2012a,b) were used. However, these procedures are labor intensive, time and reagent consuming, and require large volume of sample.…”