Studies on separation mechanism of toluene from n-heptane using Ag + containing emulsion liquid membranes

Batch wise extraction experiments were performed using silver ions to separate toluene from a mixture of toluene and n-heptane. The separation performances, represented by the permeation rate, emulsion stability and separation factor were analyzed systematically by varying the operating parameters. The varying parameters includes the contact time, concentration of Ag +, emulsification time, the surfactant concentration membrane stabilizer concentration, the relative amount of solvent, initial feed phase concentration and temperature. It was found that the emulsion liquid membranes formed were stable, and the concentration of Ag + and the surfactant concentration had strong effects on the permeation behavior of toluene.