Mechanism of Ion Transfer in Supported Liquid Membrane Systems: Electrochemical Control over Membrane Distribution

A polarization study carried out on a thin supported liquid membrane separating two aqueous compartments is presented. Transfer of both the ionized and uncharged form of an organic tracer dye, rhodamine B ([9-(2-carboxyphenyl)-6-diethylamino-3-xanthenylidene]-diethylammonium chloride), across supported liquid membranes composed of one of 1-octanol (octan-1-ol), 1,9-decadiene (deca-1,9-diene), 1,2-dichlorobenzene, or nitrophenyl octyl ether (1-(2-nitrophenoxy)octane) was studied using cyclic voltammetry and UV–vis absorption spectrophotometry. Concentration analysis indicates that the high membrane concentration of rhodamine B determines the ionic transfer observed via voltammetry, which is consistent with the low aqueous ionic concentration and large membrane/aqueous distribution of the molecule. The observed double-transfer voltammogram, although it has been largely neglected in previous literature, is a logical consequence of the presence of two liquid–liquid interfaces and is rationalized in terms of ion transfer across the two interfaces on either side of the membrane and supported by voltammograms obtained for a series of ions of varied lipophilicity. The bipolar nature of the voltammetric response offers an effective way of mass transport control via changing polarity of the applied voltage and finds immediate use in extraction, purification, and separation applications.