Studies on Extraction and Determination of Metal Salts with Methyl Isobutyl Ketone. X. : Extraction of Gallium and Indium

A fundamental experiment on the liquid-liquid extractions of gallium (III) and indium (III) with methyl isobutyl ketone was performed to see the behaviors of these two metal salts, by using 10ml of the solvent and 10ml of an aqueous solution containing 10mg of each metal and various mineral acids. The extraction recovery was calculated by determining the amount of the metal salt remaining in the aqueous solution after the equilibrium by the Oxine method and photometrically. Gallium (III) could be extracted with 100 per cent recovery from 6～8N hydrochloric acid solution. The addition of adequate amount of nitric, sulphuric, or perchloric acid enhanced the extraction even in lower concentration of hydrochloric acid when the total acidity was adjusted to 6N, particularly with perchloric acid. Indium (III) was extracted with 95.6 per cent recovery from nearly 8N hydrochloric acid solution, and the addition of sulphuric acid enhanced the extraction up to 99.0 per cent under the optimum condition, but nitric acid and perchloric acid rather lowered the extraction of indium (III)