Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions: Extraction performance and channel aging

Microfluidic solvent extraction (microSX) of metal ions from industrial grade mineral leach solutions was studied. In conventional bulk-scale SX, partially hydrophobic nanoparticles that are present in the leach solution readily adsorb at the liquid-liquid interface of the dispersed droplets, causin...

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Main Authors: Priest, C., Hashmi, S., Zhou, J., Sedev, Rossen, Ralston, J.
Format: Journal Article
Published: 2013
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62936
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author Priest, C.
Hashmi, S.
Zhou, J.
Sedev, Rossen
Ralston, J.
author_facet Priest, C.
Hashmi, S.
Zhou, J.
Sedev, Rossen
Ralston, J.
author_sort Priest, C.
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description Microfluidic solvent extraction (microSX) of metal ions from industrial grade mineral leach solutions was studied. In conventional bulk-scale SX, partially hydrophobic nanoparticles that are present in the leach solution readily adsorb at the liquid-liquid interface of the dispersed droplets, causing delayed or incomplete phase separation and reduce efficiency. In contrast, microSX employs continuous microscopic streams of aqueous and organic phases (without mixing the phases) and, in this way, bypasses the need for a conventional phase separation stage. This makes the technique promising for handling complex leach solutions. The stability of the two-phase flow is considered in terms of the surface wettability and guiding geometry of the microchannel, which determines the Laplace pressure window that stabilizes the liquid-liquid interface. We show that careful characterization of the microchannel wettability, including contact angle hysteresis, is essential to predict long-term flow stability.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:23:54Z
publishDate 2013
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-629362018-02-06T06:23:10Z Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions: Extraction performance and channel aging Priest, C. Hashmi, S. Zhou, J. Sedev, Rossen Ralston, J. Microfluidic solvent extraction (microSX) of metal ions from industrial grade mineral leach solutions was studied. In conventional bulk-scale SX, partially hydrophobic nanoparticles that are present in the leach solution readily adsorb at the liquid-liquid interface of the dispersed droplets, causing delayed or incomplete phase separation and reduce efficiency. In contrast, microSX employs continuous microscopic streams of aqueous and organic phases (without mixing the phases) and, in this way, bypasses the need for a conventional phase separation stage. This makes the technique promising for handling complex leach solutions. The stability of the two-phase flow is considered in terms of the surface wettability and guiding geometry of the microchannel, which determines the Laplace pressure window that stabilizes the liquid-liquid interface. We show that careful characterization of the microchannel wettability, including contact angle hysteresis, is essential to predict long-term flow stability. 2013 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62936 10.1556/JFC-D-13-00005 unknown
spellingShingle Priest, C.
Hashmi, S.
Zhou, J.
Sedev, Rossen
Ralston, J.
Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions: Extraction performance and channel aging
title Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions: Extraction performance and channel aging
title_full Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions: Extraction performance and channel aging
title_fullStr Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions: Extraction performance and channel aging
title_full_unstemmed Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions: Extraction performance and channel aging
title_short Microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions: Extraction performance and channel aging
title_sort microfluidic solvent extraction of metal ions from industrial grade leach solutions: extraction performance and channel aging
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/62936