Electric field assisted extraction gel membrane study for mass transfer enhancement and stability

To facilitate mass transfer of an extraction gel membrane (EGM) process, electric field was applied and its effects on flux and operation stability were investigated in this study. The optimum process conditions were investigated and obtained by adjusting the operating parameters: a current density of 1.5 mA·cm −2 , the liquid phase velocity of 2 × 10 −3  m/s, and the stripping phase concentration of 0.5 mol/L. The operation test was carried out for 72 h under the function of applied electric field. A higher flux of 3458.16 mg·m −2 ·h −1 was achieved in this case, compared with the initial mass transfer flux of 2065.46 mg·m −2 ·h −1 without electric field assistance. Therefore, with the help of constant current operation mode of electric field, the mass transfer flux of stability-enhanced EGM is obviously increased. Although the total flux attenuation rate increased from 16.78 % to 30.82 % after 72 h operation, the final flux was still higher and reliable. These results show that applied electric field is an effective assistant method for a stability-enhanced EGM to obtain higher mass transfer efficiency.