Phenol Removal from Aqueous System by Bis(2-ethylhexyl) Sulfoxide Extraction

Solvent extraction is generally considered as one of the important and effective techniques to remove toxic phenol from wastewater. This paper explores the solvent extraction of phenol from wastewater using bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfoxide (BESO) as extractant. Various parameters such as equilibrium time, the volume percentage of BESO, pH value, and ionic strength of the aqueous solution on the phenol extraction were investigated. The results indicated that BESO exhibited excellent performance of phenol extraction. The extraction percentage increased from 97.26% to 99.47%, varying the BESO concentration from 10% (v/v) to 30% (v/v). The extraction percentage decreased with increasing temperature in the range of 298-343 K. FTIR spectra of fresh and phenol loaded BESO organic phase indicated the existence of the hydrogen bonding interactions between S=O groups and phenol molecules. The relationship between log D and log [BESO] suggested the stoichiometry of the extracted species was a 1:1 complex, namely, [PhOH]center dot[BESO]. Phenol stripping from the loaded organic phase by sodium hydroxide was feasible, and more than 99% of phenol could be stripped when the NaOH concentration was 0.5 mol L-1. The results obtained established that BESO/kerosene extraction system has potential for practical application in the phenol removal and recovery.