Ibuprofen Recovery from Aqueous Solutions by Supported Liquid Membranes

Abstract

Pharmaceuticals recently have acquired a big importance because of its growing detection in wastewater. The propionic acid derivatives, such as ibuprofen, are among the most commonly anti-inflammatories used by population. For this reason it is necessary to develop a friendly separation technique with environment, like the Supported Liquid Membranes (SLM). In this work, SLM have been prepared in order to recover ibuprofen from aqueous solutions. Two different organic phases were evaluated (dodecane and Parleam 4), as well as trioctylamine as carrier, and Abil EM 90 as surfactant in the preparation of SLM. The SLM prepared was tested in the IBP transfer process through the membrane, from feed phase to stripping phase. The results showed that it is possible to recover almost 98% of IBP, this using the SLM and a phosphate buffer solution of pH 7 like stripping phase.