Recovery of Fe and Mn from aqueous solution with solvent extraction and liquid membrane permeation using ionic liquids

In the hydrometallurgical recovery process of Fe(III) and Mn(II) from ores and scrap, solvent extraction and liquid membrane processes, which combine extraction and stripping into a single stage, are one of the promising separation process. In this study, ionic liquid such as Aliquat 336, Cyphos IL 101, and Cyphos IL 102 were used as complexing reagents to recover be(III) and Mn(II) in the solvent extraction and liquid membrane permeation. In the solvent extraction, the anionic chlorocomplexes, FeCl4- and MnCl3- formed in the presence of excess hydrochloric acid were extracted with all ionic liquids via anion exchange reaction. Cyphos IL 101 among the ionic liquids investigated was the large extractability for the recovery of Fe(III) and Mn(II). In the liquid membrane permeation with ionic liquids, the combination of Aliquat 336 as a carrier and 0.1 M Na2SO4 as a stripping phase gave a largest permeability of Le(III) (approximately 80%). In the case of Cyphos IL 101, the stripping rate was found to be considerably slow. The permeation rate of Mn(II) in membrane permeation using Aliquat 336 was smaller than that of Fe(III). This suggest that the kinetic separation of Fe(III) and Mn(II) is possible.