Chenhu Zhang

Selective adsorption of tannic acid on calcite and implications for separation of fluorite minerals

Selective adsorption of tannic acid (TA) on calcite surfaces and the implications of this process for the separation of fluorite ore were studied by microflotation tests, surface adsorption experiments, zeta potential measurements, UV-vis analysis, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The microflotation tests indicated that TA, when added before sodium oleate (NaOl), could selectively depress calcite from fluorite at pH 7. Surface adsorption experiments revealed that TA hinders the interaction of NaOl with calcite. The zeta potential of calcite became more negative with TA than with NaOl. However, the characteristic features of TA adsorption were not observed on fluorite, suggesting that the dominant adsorption sites are dissimilar on the fluorite and calcite surfaces in the pulp. UV-vis spectroscopy, XPS, and solution chemistry analysis were utilized to obtain a better understanding of the mechanism for selective adsorption of TA as well as the key factors determined by the Ca2+ and Ca(OH)+ components on the mineral surfaces. A possible adsorption mechanism along with an adsorption mode is proposed for the surface interaction between TA and calcite.

Depressing behaviors and mechanism of disodium bis (carboxymethyl) trithiocarbonate on separation of chalcopyrite and molybdenite

Abstract This work focuses on the organic depressant, disodium bis(carboxymethyl) trithiocarbonate (DBT), as a selective depressant in copper-molybdenum sulfide flotation separation. Micro-flotation, Zeta potential, FTIR and XPS measurements were carried out to investigate the selective depression mechanism of DBT on chalcopyrite. Zeta potential and FTIR measurements revealed that DBT had higher affinity for chalcopyrite than molybdenite and the XPS results of chalcopyrite before and after treatment with DBT further proved that DBT adsorbed on chalcopyrite surface. The investigation indicates that the mechanism of DBT adsorbing on chalcopyrite is mainly physical adsorption. Locked circuit experiments were carried out and the results showed that DBT could be considered as a cleaner option in commercial Cu-Mo flotation separation circuits.