Flotation separation of wolframite from calcite using a new trisiloxane surfactant as collector

Since wolframite is usually associated with calcite,the separation and enrichment of wolframite by froth flotation remains a great challenge.Herein,a novel trisiloxane surfactant N-(2-aminoethyl)-3-ami nopropyltrisiloxane(AATS)was successful synthesized,which was used for the separation of wolframite from calcite for the first time.The flotation separation performance of AATS was studied by flotation test,and its adsorption mechanism was explored based on contact angle,infrared spectrum analysis(FTIR),zeta potential and density functional theory(DFT)calculation.The results of microflotation test and binary mixed ore flotation test pointed that AATS had excellent selectivity and more prominent collection capacity for the flotation of wolframite when compared with industrial reagent sodium oleate(NaOL).The measurement results of contact angle proved that AATS improved the hydrophobicity of the wolframite surface.The highly selective adsorption mechanism of AATS surfactant on mineral surfaces were further researched and analyzed by FTIR and zeta potential.The results revealed that AATS surfactant had significant adsorption effect on wolframite,yet almost no adsorption on calcite.DFT calculation indicated that AATS produced electrostatic adsorption with wolframite surface through—N+H3 group.

Flotation performance of a novel Gemini collector for kaolinite at low temperature

How to sustainably produce bauxite by effective reverse froth flotation of kaolinite at low temperature is an urgent problem to be solved in the field of mineral processing.In this work,a novel amino-based Gemini surfactant butadiyl-1,4-bis(dimethyl dodecylammonium bromide)(BBDB) was prepared and first utilized as a novel collector for kaolinite flotation.Its flotation performance for kaolinite was compared with that of the common monomolecular surfactant 1-dodecylamine(DDA) by micro-flotation tests.The tests results indicated that 95% kaolinite recovery was obtained using 2.0×10^(-4) mol/L BBDB at 25℃ which was half of the dosage when DDA obtained the maximum kaolinite recovery of81%.At extremely low temperature(0℃),3.0×10^(-4) mol/L BBDB could still collect 91% kaolinite,while DDA showed a frustrating ability.The contact angle tests indicated that BBDB could still significantly improve the hydrophobicity of the kaolinite surface(contact angle 71.7°) than DDA(contact angle only25.8°) at 0℃.The Krafft point comparison tests indicated that BBDB had a much lower Krafft point(below0℃) than DDA.Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy(FTIR)-spectrum analysis and zeta potential measurements showed that BBDB was physically adsorbed on the surface of kaolinite through electrostatic interaction.