Enhanced the simultaneous recovery/extraction of combined heavy metals of lead and vanadium from synthetic wastewater using an emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) with nanoparticles and ionic liquid

Abstract Recovery/extracting of a combination of lead (Pb(II)) and vanadium (V(V)) ions from wastewater has been enhanced by an emulsion liquid membrane with the presence of magnesium oxide (MgO) or aluminum oxide (Al2O3) nanoparticles (20–50 nm size range) in the internal/stripping phase (W1) and ionic liquid ([OMIM] PF6) in the organic/oil phase (O). The study found that the recovery/extraction batch time was shortened, enhancing emulsion extraction efficiency and stability. Furthermore, the study outcomes extend the ELM separation techniques to industrial-scale pollutant recovery/extraction applications, especially heavy metal ions, from industrial effluent. The percentage of Pb(II) recovery/extraction was increased significantly within three minutes when adding 0.01% (w/w) of MgO or Al2O3 nanoparticles separately with 5% (v/v) ([OMIM]PF6) ionic liquid achieving 95.8 and 94.6%, respectively. The recovery/extraction percentage of V(V) significantly improved to 98.6% within three minutes by adding 0.01% (w/w) of MgO nanoparticles. The percentage extraction reached 97.7% when adding 0.01% (w/w) of Al2O3 nanoparticles in the presence of 5% (v/v) ([OMIM]PF6) in both cases. The emulsion stability was noticeably enhanced, resulting in a 16% leakage after more than three days.