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.

STUDIES ON THE FROTH CHARACTERISTICS OF COMPOSITE COLLECTORS IN NONMETALLIC MINERAL FLOTATION

The flotation results of a phosphate ore are improved by replacing the conventional collectors of fatty acids with composite collectors. The synergistic effect on the froth characteristics in systems using composite collectors has then been studied, and the concept of 'mixed hemimicellae' has been proposed in the adsorption of composite collectors at the air/solution interfaces.

Flotation performance and adsorption mechanism of styrene phosphonic acid as a collector to synthetic(Ce,La)2O3

The flotation performances of styrene phosphonic acid（SPA） to synthetic（Ce,La）2O3（REO）, calcium fluorite（CaF2） and fluorapatite（Ca5F（PO4）3） were investigated by flotation tests, flotation of synthetic mixed mineral, the surface adsorption capacity and the polarizing microscopy to solve the flotation separation problem of rare earth oxides from roasted concentrate. The flotation test results indicated that compared with CaF2 and Ca5F（PO4）3, SPA exhibited superior collecting performance to direct flotation recovery of REO and floated out above 90% REO at pH 3–6. However, the collecting ability of SPA to CaF2 and Ca5F（PO4）3 was extremely weak and the highest recovery was only 20% at pH 2–11. The flotation of synthetic mixed mineral showed that SPA was a good collector reagent for flotation of synthetic REO at pH 5, so REO, CaF2 and Ca5F（PO4）3 could be separated from roasted concentrate by using SPA as a collector. The surface adsorption capacity tests and polarizing microscopy results confirmed that SPA was adsorbed on REO surface, while CaF2 and Ca5F（PO4）3 were not. The adsorption mechanism of SPA to synthetic REO was studied by solution chemistry analysis of collector, the ζ-potential tests, infrared spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy（XPS） analyses. The results indicated that SPA was physically adsorbed onto REO surface, which exhibited excellent flotation selectivity to REO against CaF2 and Ca5F（PO4）3.