Performance of an Emulsion Nanofluid Membrane for the Extraction of Antimony Heavy Metal: Experimental and Numerical Investigation

Emulsion nanofluid membranes (ENM) represent a novel category of emulsion liquid membranes (ELM), characterized by their composition as water in oil in water (W/O/W) emulsions. The present investigation focuses on the utilization of Al(OH)₃ nanofluid-based emulsion membrane for the extraction of antimony heavy metal from its aqueous solution. The ELM comprises three key components: a carrier fluid responsible for transporting the external feed to the membrane, an extractant that facilitates the extraction of the pollutant, and a stripping agent that effectively removes the pollutant and enables recycling. In the present investigation, the carrier fluid, extractant, and stripping agent employed were kerosene, 1-hexyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate, and NaOH, respectively. The optimization of extraction efficiency of antimony was conducted using Response Surface Methodology (RSM), with a focus on the concentrations of nanofluid, extractant, and stripping agent. With the improved emulsion stability, the formulated ENM was able to extract around 99% of antimony within 15 min. The X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis revealed that the formulated ENM exhibits a favorable affinity towards the elimination of heavy metals such as antimony (Sb), tin (Sn), and tellurium (Te). The recent research has demonstrated a straightforward and economically efficient treatment procedure for addressing heavy metal extraction.