Prospective investigation for iron (III) removal from aqueous solutions with solvent extraction technique using Octylamine and N,N-dimethylaniline extractant

The potential impact of the liquid–liquid extraction technique for the removal and extraction of iron (III) metal ions has been investigated utilizing different basic extractants. In this respect, Octylamine and N,N-dimethylaniline as primary and tertiary amines were employed for the elimination of Fe(III) ions using benzine as a diluent and with the examination of various supportive parameters as solution pH, contact period, extractant concentration, metal ion concentration, diluent type and loading capacity. The solvent extraction results demonstrated that the maximum removal % of Fe(III) was found to be 96 and 92% for Octylamine and N, N-dimethylaniline, respectively, and it was fast, reached equilibrium after 30 min., and optimized at pH 2 with 0.05 M of the utilized extractants. According to the distribution coefficient calculations, two moles of Octylamine extractant are required for the extraction of a mole of Fe(III) ion, while for N,N-dimethylaniline one mole of it is for extraction of a mole of Fe(III) ion. Moreover, the maximum loading capacity of Fe(III) ions in the organic phase after 5 subsequent stages was 49.8 and 45.4 g/L for Octylamine and N,N-dimethylaniline, respectively. Therefore, the proposed system emphasizes and highlights the promising capability for future progress in the field of extraction techniques and wastewater management.