Reducing the Competition: A Dual-Purpose Ionic Liquid for the Extraction of Gallium from Iron Chloride Solutions.
Luke M M KinsmanCarole A MorrisonBryne T NgwenyaJason B LovePublished in: Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) (2020)
The separation of gallium from iron by solvent extraction from chloride media is challenging because the anionic chloridometalates, FeCl4- and GaCl4-, display similar chemical properties. However, we report here that the selective separation of gallium from iron in HCl solution can be achieved using the dual-purpose ionic liquid methyltrioctylammonium iodide in a solvent extraction process. In this case, the reduction of Fe3+ to Fe2+ by the iodide counterion was found to inhibit Fe transport, facilitating quantitative Ga extraction by the ionic liquid with minimal Fe extraction from 2 M HCl.