Electrophoretic Mobility Of Oil Drops In The Presence Of Solvent Extraction Reagents

The electrophoretic mobility (EM) of hexane and toluene droplets dispersed in aqueous solution has been investigated as a function of pH in the presence and absence of 5,8-diethyl-7-hydroxy-6-dodecanone oxime (the active extractant in the Henkel reagent, LIX63), Dinonylnaphthalene sulfonic acid (HDNNS), di(2-ethylhexyl) phosphoric acid (HDEHP) and tricaprylyl methyl ammonium chloride (Aliquat 336). Both hexane and toluene droplets were found to be negatively charged at pH > 3, with the absolute EM increasing with pH; the toluene droplets were more negatively charged than the hexane droplets. The hydroxyoxlme reagent had no significant effect on the EM, whereas the addition of HDNNS and HDEHP dramatically enhanced the negative charge at the organic/ water interface. In the presence of 1.5 x 10^-4 kmol m“3 Aliquat 336, the organic drops became less negatively charged and eventually acquired a positive charge at pH < 9. The results are explained in terms of the preferential adsorption of the aqueous phase hydroxyl ions and the polar groups of the various extract-ants at the organic/water interface.