Elisaveta Potapova

The effect of calcium ions and sodium silicate on the adsorption of a model anionic flotation collector on magnetite studied by ATR-FTIR spectroscopy.

Previous studies have shown that agglomeration of the magnetite concentrate after reverse flotation of apatite is negatively affected by the collector species adsorbed on the surface of magnetite. In this work, the effect of ionic strength, calcium ions and sodium silicate on the unwanted adsorption of a model anionic flotation collector on synthetic magnetite was studied in situ using attenuated total reflectance Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The amount of collector adsorbed was found to increase with increasing ionic strength at pH 8.5 providing evidence to the contribution of electrostatic forces to the adsorption of the collector. Adding sodium silicate to the system resulted in a threefold decrease in the amount of collector adsorbed compared to when no sodium silicate was added, confirming the depressing activity of sodium silicate on magnetite. Calcium ions were shown to increase the adsorption of both the collector and sodium silicate on magnetite. The depressing effect of sodium silicate on collector adsorption was completely suppressed in the presence of calcium ions under the conditions studied. Furthermore, the amount of collector adsorbed on magnetite from the silicate-collector solution increased 14 times upon addition of calcium ions suggesting that calcium ions in the process water may increase undesired adsorption of the collector on the iron oxide.

Adsorption of water and butanol in silicalite-1 film studied with in situ attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy.

Biobutanol produced by, e.g., acetone-butanol-ethanol (ABE) fermentation is a promising alternative to petroleum-based chemicals as, e.g., solvent and fuel. Recovery of butanol from dilute fermentation broths by hydrophobic membranes and adsorbents has been identified as a promising route. In this work, the adsorption of water and butanol vapor in a silicalite-1 film was studied using in situ attenuated total reflectance-Fourier transform infrared (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy to better understand the adsorption properties of silicalite-1 membranes and adsorbents. Single-component adsorption isotherms were determined in the temperature range of 35-120 °C, and the Langmuir model was successfully fitted to the experimental data. The adsorption of butanol is very favorable compared to that of water. When the silicalite-1 film was exposed to a butanol/water vapor mixture with 15 mol % butanol (which is the vapor composition of an aqueous solution containing 2 wt % butanol, a typical concentration in an ABE fermentation broth, i.e., the composition of the gas obtained from gas stripping of an ABE broth) at 35 °C, the adsorption selectivity toward butanol was as high as 107. These results confirm that silicalite-1 quite selectively adsorbs hydrocarbons from vapor mixtures. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive study on the adsorption of water and butanol in silicalite-1 from vapor phase.

The effect of polymer adsorption on the wetting properties of partially hydrophobized magnetite

Upon reverse flotation of iron ore, the surface of the iron ore concentrate may become partially hydrophobized due to adsorption of flotation collector, which is facilitated by the calcium ions present in the process water. Hydrophobic areas on the concentrate surface may introduce problems in subsequent pelletization of the concentrate. A possible way to restore the wettability of the surface could be by modifying the surface with a hydrophilic polymer. The effect of hydrophilic polymers of different types, viz. cationic, anionic, and non-ionic, on the wettability of the magnetite surface after adsorption of a surfactant was investigated. Although all the polymers could adsorb on magnetite at pH 8.5, the contact angle measurements revealed that only anionic ammonium polyacrylate could decrease the contact angle of synthetic magnetite after surfactant adsorption to a level close to that of as-synthesized magnetite. Such effect was probably achieved due to shielding of the hydrophobic surfactant chains from the aqueous phase by hydrophilic polyacrylate molecules. The fact that polyacrylate adsorption on magnetite occurred via calcium ions makes polyacrylate suitable for application in calcium-rich process water. The results presented in this work illustrate that ammonium polyacrylate could be successfully used to improve the wettability of magnetite after adsorption of surfactants.

Micelles and aggregates of oxyethylated isononylphenols and their extraction properties near cloud point.

We used nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and dynamic light scattering (DLS) techniques to study the structural and dynamic properties of micellar solutions of nonionic surfactants of a homologous series of oxyethylated isononylphenols--C9H19C6H4O(C2H4O)(n)H, where n = 6, 8, 9, 10, or 12--in a wide range of temperatures, including cloud points. The radii of the micelles and aggregates, as well as their compositions at different concentrations of surfactant, were determined. Using aqueous phenol solutions as a model, we studied the process of cloud point extraction with oxyethylated isononylphenols.

Micelle structure and molecular self-diffusion in isononylphenol ethoxylate–water systems

The structure and dynamic properties of micellar solutions of nonionic surfactants of a series of isononylphenol ethoxylates, C9H19C6H4O(C2H4O)nH (where n = 6,8,9,10, and 12), were studied by NMR diffusometry, dynamic light scattering, and viscosimetry. The sizes of the micelles were determined for different surfactants and at different surfactant concentrations. The numbers of water molecules bound by a micelle and by one oxyethylene group of the surfactant were estimated. Copyright