Flotation Separation of Mercury (II) using Ammonium Sulfate-Potassium Iodide-Butyl rhodamine B system

Abstract The flotation separation behavior and conditions of mercury (II) using ammonium sulfate-potassium iodide-butyl rhodamine B(Bu-RhB) system are investigated. In the presence of (NH 4 ) 2 SO 4 , KI and Bu-RhB, Hg 2+ can form ternary associate precipitate (Bu-RhB) 2 (HgI 4 ) which floated above the water phase and Hg 2+ is floated quantitatively at pH 1.0. While Zn 2+ , Mn 2+ , Co 2+ , Ni 2+ , Cu 2+ , Fe 3+ and Al 3+ can not be floated in the same condition. Hence, the separation method of trace mercury (II) by flotation is established. This mothod is used to separate Hg 2+ in the synthetic water samples, the results are satisfactory.