Transport of Zn (Ⅱ) through matrix enhanced polymer inclusion membrane containing OHA and D2EHPA

Recovery of heavy metal ions from waste water has benefits both in terms of resources reuse and environmental protection. Polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) has received increasing attention as a gentle and simple method compared to other separation techniques for the removal and recovery of heavy metal ions. The extractant and matrix are the most important components of the PIM. In this paper, a novel matrix enhanced polymer inclusion membrane (ME-PIM) system containing both octyl hydroxamic acid (OHA) and di (2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) as the carriers as well as poly(vinyl) chloride (PVC) and poly (vinylidene fluoride-co-chlorotrifluoroethylene) (PVDF-CTFE) as the matrix was reported. The SEM results indicate that the PVC has excellent compatibility with OHA and D2EHPA, resulting in dense ME-PIM compared to PVDF-CTFE. The effects of OHA and D2EHPA with different carrier ratios on the transport and the stability of the membrane were examined using Zn (Ⅱ) as a representative of heavy metal ions. The optimal results of this work showed that the initial mass transfer flux value of Zn (Ⅱ) was as high as 4.73 μmol/(m2·s), corresponding to a permeability of 2.21 × 10−2 m/h, using the ME-PIM composed of 61 wt.% PVC and 22 wt.% OHA + 17 wt.% D2EHPA. All these results suggest that the ME-PIM has a much higher initial mass transfer flux than those of PIMs in literatures. The addition of OHA to PIM introduced extractive functional groups into the polymer chain, forming an efficient and progressive mass transfer path with the extractant D2EHPA. Utilizing two extractants with synergistic effects, this novel ME-PIM system provides a potential advantage in promoting the mass transfer of metal ions in a PIM.