COMPARISON OF CARRIER-FACILITATED COPPER(II) ION-TRANSPORT MECHANISMSIN A SUPPORTED LIQUID MEMBRANE AND IN A PLASTICIZED CELLULOSE TRIACETATE MEMBRANE

Transport of copper ions through a plasticized cellulose triacetate me mbrane containing lauric acid as carrier and tris(2-ethylhexyl)phospha te (TEHP) as plasticizer has been investigated. A comparative study of transport mechanism across such a membrane and a supported liquid mem brane (SLM) containing the same carrier in THEP has been made. In both cases, transport mechanisms were controlled by the diffusion of 1:2 m etal/carrier complex in the membrane and of copper ions through the aq ueous diffusion layer at the source/membrane interface. Diffusion coef ficient in the cellulose triacetate membrane, after normalization, was found to be 22 times lower than in the corresponding SLM. (C) 1998 El sevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.