Proposal of the Possible Surfactant Role in the Mass Transfer Process of Naproxen Recovered from Aqueous Solutions Using Emulsion Liquid Membranes

AbstractEmulsion Liquid Membranes (ELMs) are known as a useful and versatile technique with widespread uses, including organic substances recovery. The surfactant main role in these systems is to stabilize them; however, the surfactant can maybe participate in mass transfer mechanisms when ELMs are used in separation processes. In this text, a methodology to recover naproxen from aqueous solutions by ELMs was developed. This aims to propose a way by which surfactant molecules interact with all the chemical species of both the drug and carrier in the medium, and to observe how these chemical interactions can affect or benefit the extraction and stripping processes. The results shown that ELMs prepared with and without carrier+5 % w/V of surfactant, presented extraction percentages of 99 % and 69 % and recovery percentages of 43 % and 33 %, respectively. Besides, it was found that the surfactant molecule can form a very stable hydration bilayer where the drug stays trapped inside causing a recovery decrease.