Solvent extraction separation of iron(III) and aluminium(III) from other elements with Cyanex 302

A rapid method was developed for the solvent extraction separation of iron(III) and aluminium(III) from other elements with Cyanex 302 in chloroform as the diluent. Iron(III) was quantitatively extracted at pH 2.0–2.5 with 5 × 10 −3 M Cyanex 302 in chloroform whereas the extraction of aluminium(III) was quantitative in the pH range 3.0–4.0 with 10 × 10 −3 M Cyanex 302 in chloroform. Iron(III) was stripped from the organic phase with 1.0 M and aluminium(III) with 2.0 M hydrochloric acid. Both metals were separated from multicomponent mixtures. The method was applied to the separation of iron and aluminium from real samples.