Selective Extraction of Cadmium from Multicomponent Acidic Leach Solutions by Emulsion Liquid Membrane using Amberlite LA-2 as Extractant

The zinc plant purification cake (CINKUR Co., Turkey) was leached with hydrochloric acid. The extraction and concentration of cadmium from this acidic leach solution by an emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) using secondary amine (Amberlite LA-2) as extractant has been studied. The effect of the fundamental parameters influencing the extraction process, for example, acid type and concentration of the acidic leach solution, base type and concentration of stripping solution, extractant and surfactant concentrations, mixing speed, phase ratio, and cadmium concentration of the acidic leach solution has been investigated and discussed. The selectivity and efficiency of the proposed method was evaluated. The results showed that it is possible to extract 99% of cadmium after contact time of 10min by the ELM from the acidic leach solution, containing Zn (II), Pb (II), Cu (II), Co (II), Ni (II), Fe (III), and Al (III) ions, at the optimum operating conditions.