Extraction of Uranium(VI) using D2EHPA/TOPO based supported liquid membrane

This work concerns the extraction of U(VI) using supported liquid membrane (SLM) by di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (D2EHPA) and tri-n-octyl phosphine oxide (TOPO) with polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF) as a membrane support. The influence of ionic strength (S), stirring rate (V) and extraction time (t) were studied. The effect of membrane thickness on the permeability and extraction yield of uranium was investigated. A comparative study was carried out using a 23 full factorial design between SLMs with one membrane and two membranes, and to achieve the best conditions of recovery procedure, obtaining the mutual interaction among variables and optimizing these variables. The recovery of U(VI) is almost quantitative, and the supported liquid membrane with two membranes in series is effective.