DIFFUSIONAL RESISTANCE IN EXTRACTION RATE OF COPPER WITH HYDROXYOXIME EXTRACTANT

The extraction of copper from sulphate media with a hydroxyoxime chelating extractant was carried out using a stirred transfer cell. Simple physical extraction studies of iodine or acetic acid were also carried out. From a comparison of the results, the extraction mechanism for copper was found to be expressed simply by a series of diffusional processes into the interface for the reactive species and the succeeding interfacial reaction, at least at the initial stages of extraction.