Selective recovery of silver from dilute polymetal solutions by rotating film pertraction

Recovery of silver from polymetal nitrate solution by means of rotating fil m pertraction technique was studied. Silver was successfully separated from the accompanying metals, viz. copper, zinc and nickel, using as a membrane phase a 0.06-M solution of tri-isobutylphosphine sulfide (TIBPS) in n-octa ne and an aqueous ammonia solution as a stripping phase. After 4 h of conti nuous contacting silver was practically completely extracted from the feed and transferred into the strip solution, while the other three metals remai ned unextracted. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.