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The Preparation of Electrohydrodynamic Bridges from Polar Dielectric Liquids
Published on: September 30, 2014
Enhancing Metal Separations by Liquid-Liquid Extraction Using Polar Solvents
Zheng Li1, Zidan Zhang1, Simon Smolders2
1Department of Chemistry, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200F, Leuven, 3001, Belgium.
Abstract:
The less polar phase of liquid-liquid extraction systems has been studied extensively for improving metal separations; however, the role of the more polar phase has been overlooked for far too long. Herein, we investigate the extraction of metals from a variety of polar solvents and demonstrate that, the influence of polar solvents on metal extraction is so significant that extraction of many metals can be largely tuned, and the metal separations can be significantly enhanced by selecting suitable polar solvents. Furthermore, a mechanism on how the polar solvents affect metal extraction is proposed based on comprehensive characterizations. The method of using suitable polar solvents in liquid-liquid extraction paves a new and versatile way to enhance metal separations.
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