Lead (Pb) is one of the top-heavy metal pollutants often encountered in industrial wastewater. The presence of high levels of Pb in the environment may cause long-term health risks to humans. This study was focused on the removal and stripping of lead solution using liquid-liquid extraction (LLE) process. LLE was conducted using three types of extractants with sulphuric acid, H2SO4 as a stripping agent. Experimental parameters studied were types of extractant bis(2-ethylhexyl) phosphate (D2EHPA), trioctylamine (TOA) and tributylphosphate (TBP) and concentration of extractant (0.005, 0.05 and 0.5 M) and types of diluents (kerosene and toluene) respectively. The result indicates that, D2EHPA shows a good performance for removal of Pb compared to TOA and TBP where the highest extraction rate of lead was 93.92 %. Meanwhile, TBP shows the highest stripping rate of lead which is 93.57 %. Kerosene was found to be the best diluent compared to toluene. Overall, the optimum Pb extraction and stripping was obtained at 0.5 M D2EHPA and 0.005 M TBP with 250 rpm stirring speed, 5 min stirring time, 0.5 M H2SO4 and treat ratio 1:1. This LLE process has a good potential to aid in low-cost and environmentally friendly.
