ABSTRACT
The liquid membrane (LM) concept combines solvent extraction (SX) and membrane-based technologies, enabling both extraction and back-extraction in a single step with reduced consumption of extractants and diluents. For these reasons, separation based on LMs can be viewed as a promising alternative to traditional SX. The LM separation approach involves mass transfer of a target chemical species between two solutions (i.e., feed and receiver solutions) separated by an immiscible LM [1]. The main types of LMs are bulk liquid membranes (BLMs), emulsion liquid membranes (ELMs), supported liquid membranes (SLMs), and polymer inclusion membranes (PIMs).
