Supported Liquid Membrane Principle and Its Practices: A Short Review

The present paper on the supported liquid membrane (SLM) deals with the general principles and applications, followed by the uphill transport characteristic of SLM. The liquid-liquid extraction with supported liquid membrane is one of the best alternate and promising technologies for the extraction of metal ions from solutions over other hydrometallurigical separation processes. The salient features of the supported liquid membrane (SLM) technique such as simultaneous extraction and stripping, low solvent inventory, process economy, high efficiency, less extractant consumption, and operating costs are discussed in detail. The supported liquid membrane of hollow fiber type provides high interfacial surface area for achieving maximum metal flux. Also the use of different organic extractants for SLM has been discussed.