Using membrane-supported liquid-liquid extraction for the measurement of extraction kinetics

Membrane-supported liquid-liquid extraction uses artificial membranes for the generation of a phase interface between the two liquid phases involved in extraction. Additional equipment for the generation of droplets as well as phase separation afterwards is no longer necessary. Since the membranes used for this special type of extraction are quite well described concerning thickness, porosity, tortuosity and material it is possible to generate information about the diffusion coefficient of the component to be extracted within the preferred solvent from extraction trails easily. This article describes an experimental set-up for both the proof of principle of membrane-supported liquid-liquid extraction and, using a dedicated computer-aided data treatment, how to calculate the overall mass transfer coefficient as well as the diffusion coefficient for a given system within moderate testing duration.