Studies on the Solvent Extraction of Iron by Tri-n-Octyl amine

The extraction of Iron (III) from hydrochloric, sulphuric, nitric and perchloric acid solutions with Tri-n-octylamine (TOA) in benzene has been studied. The extractions from hydrochloric acid solutions are nearly quantitative and are partial from the remaining acid solutions. The optimum conditions for extraction were established from the study of the effect of several variables like concentration of amine, metal ion, acidity, foreign ions etc. Attempts are also made to strip iron from the organic phase with 1.0M H2SO4.The extracted species are identified. The method has been applied for the recovery and determination of iron in food as well as natural samples.