Simultaneous recovery of copper and surfactant by an electrolytic process from synthetic solution prepared to simulate a concentrate waste stream of a micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration process

Electroplating method was employed to recover copper and surfactant simultaneously from synthetic solutions prepared to simulate concentrated waste stream generated from micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration. Effects of surfactant and copper (II) concentrations, surfactant to copper (II) molar ratio (S/M), electroplating voltage and time, solution pH, and ionic strength on metal recovery and electrical current efficiency were investigated. Results show that at a fixed S/M ratio of 5, the first-order kinetic constant for Cu (II) removal by electroplating increases with decreasing SDS concentration. At fixed SDS concentration of 8.5 mM, increasing initial Cu (II) concentration increases both Cu (II) recovery and current efficiency. Electrolyte pH has profound effects on the metal recovery and current efficiency due to the difference in solution conductivity after pH adjustment and the extent of Cu (11) adsorption onto SDS at different pHs.