Separation of cobalt and nickel from wastewater by P204 microemulsion saponified

The separation process of cobalt and nickel using microemulsion system saponified with P-204 as extracting agent was studied. The influence of initial concentration, the concentration of P-204, initial pH, the extracting time and the concentration of cobalt and nickel on separation coefficient were also studied. Experimental results show that the saponification microemulsion system using P-204 as extractant is thermodynamic stable, and it can separate cobalt and nickel better. The optimum conditions were achieved as: the initial concentration is 0.05 mol/L, pH is 2, the concentration of P-204 is 8%, extraction time is 10 minutes, the volume ratio of organic phase to water phase is 2:1.