Copper extraction from wastewater using a liquid membrane based on hollow fibers impregnated with M5640 material has been experimentally investigated. The permeability coefficients increase with increasing pH of the initial solution. At high concentration of hydrogen ions in the stock solution, the process was controlled by diffusion of CuR2 through the liquid membrane. At low concentrations of hydrogen ions, the permeability becomes independent of this factor and the process is controlled by diffusion through an aqueous diffusion layer formed at the interface between the stock solution and the liquid membrane. Experimental studies were consistent with the assumptions of the Danesi model.
