Removal and recovery of AgðCNÞ2 from synthetic electroplating baths by polymer inclusion membrane containing Aliquat 336 as a carrier

The current research deals with the first application of a polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) for theremoval and recovery of silver cyanide complex from an aqueous solution. The effective PIM containingAliquat 336 as the carrier, cellulose triacetate (CTA) as the base polymer, and Bis (2-ethylhexyl) sebacate(BEHS) as a plasticizer were prepared by phase inversion technique via solvent evaporation and characterizedby different techniques. The effects of several factors on the transport efficiency including the natureand the concentration of the carrier, the type of base polymer and the plasticizer, initial concentrationof the feed phase and the stripping phase nature have been studied. This study shows that the membranecomposition affects considerably the AgðCNÞ2 transport. The transport mechanism is implemented by ananionic exchange between the fixed site of the Aliquat 336 and the anionic species in the solution followedby their diffusion across the membrane. We revealed that the transport of AgðCNÞ2 found to beenhanced by the increasing of initial complex concentration and the best silver cyanide removal wasachieved when HCO3 is used as the stripping agent. Moreover, we found that PIM exhibited an importantselectivity towards AgðCNÞ2 than ZnðCNÞ24 . These promising results lead us to apply this technology forthe removal of silver cyanide complex from real wastewater.