Copper(II) Ion Transport Through Mono and Binary Liquid Membranes

Abstract

Abstract The influence of membrane material and water phases acidity on coupled active copper transport by Acorga 5100 used as carrier has been examined. It was found that the efficiency of copper ion flux depends not only on proton concentration gradient across the membrane but also on the viscosity of the membrane solvent. However, both dependencies show saturation effects. Diffusion through the membrane phase turns out to be the rate determining step as shown by the accumulation of copper ions in the membrane and confirmed by partitioning measurements. Facilitated passive transport experiments showed that both the nature of the carrier and the composition of binary membranes influence strongly the transport rate. Varying membrane composition may even increase transport efficiency more than the use of better carrier. It was also found that the presence of surfactants have a favourable effect on the transport rate.