Stability of emulsion liquid membrane using bifunctional diluent and blended nonionic surfactant for phenol removal

• Published in: Chemical engineering and processing 2020-02, Vol.148, p.107790, Article 107790
• Main Authors: Rosly, Muhammad Bukhari, Jusoh, Norela, Othman, Norasikin, Rahman, Hilmi Abdul, Sulaiman, Raja Norimie Raja, Noah, Norul Fatiha Mohamed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Blended surfactant; Emulsion liquid membrane; Formulation; Phenol removal; Stability
• ISSN: 0255-2701; 1873-3204
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cep.2019.107790

[Display omitted] •Utilization of blended surfactant in green emulsion liquid membrane formulation.•Palm oil has a high potential as a green solvent in the ELM formulation.•Optimization of process parameters to produce a stable emulsion.•An amount of 83.4 % of phenol extraction was achieved while retaining the emulsion stability. This study investigates the interfacial stability of emulsion liquid membrane (ELM) for phenols removal through the introduction of blended surfactant in the formulation of liquid membranes. The stability was studied in terms of emulsion breakage time and droplets size distribution. The components used in ELM were a mixture of palm oil and kerosene (7:3) as a diluent, sorbitan monooleate (Span 80) and polyoxyethylene sorbitan monooleate (Tween 80) as a surfactants, and sodium hydroxide as a stripping agent. Parameters such as hydrophilic-lipophilic (HLB) value, mixed surfactant concentration, homogenizer speed, emulsification time and organic-to-internal (O/I) ratio were evaluated. Results show that stable emulsion was formed at HLB 5, 3 % (w / v) of blended surfactant, 8000 rpm of homogenizer speed, 3 min of emulsification time and 3:1 O/I ratio. 83.4 % of phenol were extracted under these conditions without any emulsion breakage or swelling. Thus, Span 80 and Tween 80 mixture has high potential as surfactant and is capable to increase the stability of emulsion.