Simultaneous Recovery of Nickel and Cobalt from Aqueous Solutions using Complexation-Ultrafiltration Process

Simultaneous recovery of nickel and cobalt from aqueous solutions by complexation-ultrafiltration process with polyethylenimine (PEI) was studied. Experiments were performed as a function of polymer/metal ratio (P/M), solution pH, and ionic strength. Effects of concentration time on metal rejection and membrane flux were also studied. At optimum experimental conditions of pH 6.0 and P/M 5.0, the nickel removal efficiency reaches at 99.9% and cobalt removal efficiency goes to 96.4%. Both nickel and cobalt removal efficiencies decreased as the adding salt concentration increases. During 12 h of the ultrafiltration process, the decline of membrane flux was less than 16% and the removal efficiencies for both nickel and cobalt were kept almost constant. Diafiltration was further performed to regenerate PEI. The removal efficiencies for both metals using recycled PEI were found to be close to those with the original PEI. Results from the two-step process of complexation-UF and decomplexation-UF separation showed that it could be a promising method for simultaneous recovery of nickel and cobalt from aqueous solutions.