Preparation and performance of 4-alkyl-4,4-bis(hydroxycarbamoyl) carboxylic acid for flotation separation of diaspore against aluminosilicates

The existed collector for the flotation of diasporic bauxite in China is poor in selectivity. To look for a collector with high selectivity and strong collecting capacity on the diaspore flotation, novel 4-alkyl-4,4-bis(hydroxycarbamoyl) carboxylic acids (ABHC) including 4,4-bis(hydroxycarbamoyl) dodecanoic acid (HCDA), 4,4-bis(hydroxycarbamoyl) tetradecanoic acid (HCTA), and 4,4-bis(hydroxycarbamoyl) hexadecanoic acid (HCHA) were designed and synthesized for the beneficiation of diasporic bauxite by selective flotation. The results of flotation experiments for the single minerals showed that by using these compounds as collectors, the pulp pH value has significant influence on their collecting performance as the floatability of diaspore varies sharply with its change. The appropriate pH value for the flotation of diaspore gets close to neutral condition at which diaspore presents good floatability while kaolinite and illite exhibit poor floatabilities. HCDA, HCTA, and HCHA, especially HCDA, show good selectivity for the flotation between diaspore and aluminosilicate around pH 7. A satisfactory mass ratio of Al2O3 to SiO2 (A/S) and recovery of Al2O3 were obtained from the flotation separation of artificially mixed minerals and the flotation desilication of diasporic bauxite by using HCDA as a collector, proving that the selectivity of HCDA is better than that of the traditional collector oleate. Moreover, adsorption amount, zeta-potential, DFT calculation, XPS, and FTIR were performed to study the mechanisms. The results indicated that the adsorption of HCDA on the surface of diaspore is dominantly chemisorption in the form of three chelate rings. The oxygen atoms contained in carboxyl and hydroxycarbamoyl of the polar group have the highly negative charges and stereo conditions to form five- to eight-membered ring, resulting in the coordination of carboxyl and hydroxycarbamoyl to the metal aluminum atoms to form chelate rings. By contrast, the adsorption of HCDA on the surface of kaolinite or illite is mainly physical adsorption.

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► Novel bis(hydroxycarbamoyl) carboxylic acids designed and synthesized as collector.
► These compounds excellently collect diaspore against aluminosilicate minerals.
► The collector is chemisorption on diaspore and physisorption on aluminosilicates.
► O atoms in collector chelate with Al atom on diaspore to form chemisorption.