Flotation separation of mercury(II) from environmental water samples using thiosemicarbazide derivatives as chelating agents and oleic acid as surfactant

Abstract

A simple and rapid procedure is developed for the quantitative flotation of mercury(II) from aqueous solutions. Thiosemicarbazide derivatives such as: 1-(amino-N-phenylmethanethio)-4-(pyridine-2-yl)thio-semicarbazide (H₂PPS), N-phenyl-2-(pyridine-2-ylcarbamothioyl) hydrazinecarboxamide (H₂PBO), 1-(amino(thioformyl)-N-phenylform)-4-(pyridine-2-yl)thiosemicarbazide (H2APO), and 1-(amino-N-(pyri-dine-3-yl)methanethio)-4-(pyridine-2-yl)thiosemicarbazide (H₂PPY) are used as organic chelating agents and oleic acid (HOL) as surfactant. The different parameters affecting the flotation process namely, metal ion, ligands and surfactant concentrations, foreign ions (which are normally present in fresh and saline waters), pH and temperature are examined. Nearly 100% of mercury ions are floated at a metal:ligand ratio of 1: 4, pH ~ 4 and at room temperature (~25°C). The procedure was successfully applied to recover Hg²⁺ ions spiked into some water samples. A flotation mechanism is suggested based on some physical and chemical studies on the solid complexes isolated from aqueous and floated layers.