Elimination of rare earth (neodymium (III)) from water by emulsion liquid membrane process using D2EHPA as a carrier in kerosene

The present paper highlights the process for the purification of water, which contains Neodymium (III). The applicability of the Liquid Surfactant Membrane (LSM) process for the removal and the concentration of Nd (III) was investigated. The LSM consists of di-(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid as a carrier, commercial kerosene as an organic solvent, span 80 as an emulsifying agent, and sulphuric acid as a stripping phase. The important factors studied which affect the removal Nd (III) are the concentrations of surfactant (1–9% w/w), carrier (0.05–0.9% w/w), internal phase (0.05–1 N H2SO4), pH of feed solution, stirring speed (100 −400 rpm), external phase concentration and type of diluent. The results showed that it is possible to remove 95% of Nd (III) after 15 min contact time by using ELM at the optimum operating conditions. The application of this new membrane matrix based on sulphuric acid used as inner phase, sorbitan monooleate as a surfactant, and D2EHPA as an extractant in kerosene as a diluent has been proven effective for extracting Neodymium (III) ions in water.