Studies on rhodamine B dye transport through a supported liquid membrane from basic aqueous solutions using phenol as a membrane phase

Abstract

The aim of this work is to investigate the transport of rhodamine B across a supported liquid membrane under various experimental conditions. The phenol was mixed with xylene which acts as carrier in the membrane phase. A flat sheet polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) membrane was impregnated with xylene in phenol. The flux value of rhodamine B increased with increasing dye concentration in the feed phase. The maximum permeability (1.80 × 10⁻⁵ m s⁻¹) of RB dye was observed using 0.8 mol L⁻¹ phenol in xylene. The effect of pH on the feed phase, carrier concentration on the membrane phase, stirring speed and strip phase concentration has been determined. Finally, the stability and reusability of the impregnated membrane has been investigated.