Premium
Enhancing Metal Separations by Liquid–Liquid Extraction Using Polar Solvents
Author(s) -
Li Zheng,
Zhang Zidan,
Smolders Simon,
Li Xiaohua,
Raiguel Stijn,
Nies Erik,
De Vos Dirk E.,
Binnemans Koen
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
chemistry – a european journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.687
H-Index - 242
eISSN - 1521-3765
pISSN - 0947-6539
DOI - 10.1002/chem.201901800
Subject(s) - polar , extraction (chemistry) , metal , chemical polarity , liquid–liquid extraction , materials science , phase (matter) , chromatography , chemistry , organic chemistry , metallurgy , physics , astronomy
The less polar phase of liquid–liquid extraction systems has been studied extensively for improving metal separations; however, the role of the more polar phase has been overlooked for far too long. Herein, we investigate the extraction of metals from a variety of polar solvents and demonstrate that, the influence of polar solvents on metal extraction is so significant that extraction of many metals can be largely tuned, and the metal separations can be significantly enhanced by selecting suitable polar solvents. Furthermore, a mechanism on how the polar solvents affect metal extraction is proposed based on comprehensive characterizations. The method of using suitable polar solvents in liquid–liquid extraction paves a new and versatile way to enhance metal separations.