Liquid Membrane Transport of Metal Ions by p-tert-butyl-calix[4]arene and its Derivative

Selective transport of metal ions across liquid membrane can be achieved by using calixarene derivatives with recognition groups.In this work, %p%-tert-butyl-calixarene and tetra-acetoxy %p%-tert-butyl-calixarene were examined comparatively for the transport of different metal ions.It was found that tetra-acetoxy %p%-tert-butyl-calixarene transported efficiently Ag~+. The effects of the pH gradient between the source phase and the receiving phase, and ion concentration were studied. The transport process and transport mechanism by using calixarene and its derivative as carriers were briefly discussed.