Electroanalytical study of the industrial extractant LIX 54

Abstract

The voltammetric behaviour of 1-phenyldecane-1,3-dione, the active component in the commercial extractant LIX 54, was studied in the aqueous–alcoholic medium 0.1 mol l^–1 KCl–methanol (60 + 40 v/v) as a function of pH using polarographic and cyclic voltammetric techniques. Reduction processes of the extractant depending on the acidity conditions are proposed. The electrochemical reduction of the industrial formulation (LIX 54) under the same experimental conditions was also studied and found to exhibit similar behaviour. In order to determine the percentage of the active component in the commercial extractant, differential-pulse polarographic methods for the determination of 1-phenyldecane-1,3-dione were developed and compared with the results obtained for LIX 54.