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Removal of Cadmium, Zinc, and Manganese from Dilute Aqueous Solutions by Foam Separation

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Abstract

As environmental regulations are becoming stricter, new techniques must be developed for the removal of trace concentrations of heavy metals from mineral processing effluents. Foam separation techniques are an interesting alternative to more conventional processes such as ion exchange because of their efficiency to treat dilute aqueous streams. In this paper, the simultaneous removal of Cd2+, Mn2+, and Zn2+ from dilute aqueous solutions was investigated by using sodium dodecyl sulfate as collector and triethylenetetramine as auxiliary ligand via a series of batch-mode flotation experiments. Experimental results showed that Cd2+, Mn2+, and Zn2+ can be completely removed in one step under the following conditions: pH 9.50, flotation time = 120 min, auxiliary concentration 0.1 mmol L−1, collector-to-metals molar ratio 2:1, ethanol concentration 0.5% (v/v), and a nitrogen gas flowrate set at 25 mL min−1. An excess in auxiliary ligand concentration yielded to low removal efficiency. The modeled speciation of the examined system suggested that the metals are separated from the bulk solution to the foam phase via a combination of ion flotation and precipitate flotation.

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Acknowledgements

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Community’s Horizon 2020 Programme under Grant Agreement No. 812580 (MSCA- ETN SULTAN). This publication reflects only the authors’ view, exempting the Community from any liability.

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  1. Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, Box 2404, 3001, Leuven, Belgium

    Panagiotis Xanthopoulos & Koen Binnemans

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  1. Panagiotis Xanthopoulos
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Correspondence to Koen Binnemans.

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Xanthopoulos, P., Binnemans, K. Removal of Cadmium, Zinc, and Manganese from Dilute Aqueous Solutions by Foam Separation. J. Sustain. Metall. 7, 78–86 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-020-00322-2

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