The extraction of gold (III) from acidic aqueous solutions by polymer inclusion membranes

In the present study, the extraction of gold from the synthetically prepared acidic chloride solution was excellently performed by poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropene (PVDF-co-HFP) based membranes. The study was fictioned on the determination of the alkyl chain length effectiveness of 1,3-didodecyl imidazolium bromide and 1,3-ditetradecyl imidazolium bromide salts for a gold transport. The effective membrane based parameters on gold transport were determined by changing some membrane properties like membrane thickness, extractant type and rate, plasticizer type, and rate. In the experiments performed with the membrane in optimum compositions, the gold transport capacity and the gold selectivity of the membrane against other metal ions was determined. Depending on the results, the gold transport capacity and the selectivity of membrane prepared with IM14 were higher than IM12 one. At the same time, surface characterizations have been performed by using SEM, AFM, EDX and contact angle techniques before and after the use of membranes and thus, the effect of metal transport on membrane surface properties has been investigated.