Study on flotation separation of mercury(II) by the liquid-solid system of sodium chloride-potassium iodide-methyl violet-water

The flotation separation behaviour of mercury(Ⅱ) by the liquid-solid system of sodium chloride-potassium iodide-methyl violet-water and the conditions for the separation of mercury(Ⅱ) from other metal ions were studied.The results showed that with the amount of 0.5 mL of 0.1 mol/L KI and 0.4 mL of 1.0×10~(-3) mol/L MV,the ternary association complex of KI-MV-Hg floated above the salt-water and formed liquid-solid phase with clear interface in the presence of 0.5～1.0 g NaCl.In this condition Cd~(2+),Co~(2+),Mn~(2+),Ni~(2+),Zn~(2+),Al~(3+) could not be floated and Hg~(2+) could be floated quantitatively.The method has been used for the flotation separation of trace of Hg~(2+) in the samples of synthetic water and the results were satisfactory.