The uptake of silver(I) from chloride solutions by amine extractants

Abstract

The amine extractants, bis(2-ethylhexyl)amine, N,N-dimethylethanolamine, and trioctylamine were used to recover silver(I) ions from chloride solutions. The effect of the pH, contact time, extractant concentration and reextraction were studied. It was found that extraction of silver(I) depended on the pH, extractant concentration and strongly on the contact time. Reextraction of Ag(I) ions from the loaded organic phase showed that the metal can be removed in over 50% for the three extractant using sodium hydroxide. The recovery of silver from the chloride leaching solutions were above 85% for bis(2-ethylhexyl)amine, above 58% for N,N-dimethylethanolamine, and above 70% for trioctylamine.