A comprehensive investigation of microcrystalline graphite flotation using the innovative reagent MOS

Abstract

Microcrystalline graphite more often described greater flotation difficulty than flake graphite. In order to improve the flotation efficiency of microcrystalline graphite, a new reagent called MOS was created by mixed emulsifier alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEO), frother methyl isobutyl carbinol (MIBC), and surfactant stearic acid. The reagent MOS has the ability of both collecting and foaming. The flotation results demonstrated that the flotation recovery of 87.5 % was obtained when 300 g/t of MOS was used, obviously higher than that of conventional kerosene with the same amount of collector. Mechanism study found that mixing emulsification enables collector to have better dispersion in water, which makes the collector in MOS to disperse more easily in the water. E-DLVO theoretical was indicated that the interaction force between the collector and the graphite particles was mainly affected by the hydrophobic force. The force between collector in MOS and graphite is more negative, and its adsorption capacity with graphite particles is stronger than that of traditional collectors. This was confirmed Three-dimensional fluorescence (EEM) test. Quartz Crystal Microbalance (QCM) results also showed that the adsorption capacity of the collector on the graphite surface increased from 70 to 350 ng/cm² with stearic acid. Additionally, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) results found that the stearic acid in MOS can change the adsorption layer structure of collector and make the adsorption layer more stable. This is beneficial to reduce the adsorption energy of graphite and bubbles, promote the combination of graphite and bubbles, and improve the flotation efficiency of microcrystalline graphite.