Utilization of novel surfactant N-dodecyl-isopropanolamine as collector for efficient separation of quartz from hematite

• A novel surfactant NDIA was synthesized and firstly utilized as the collector.
• Excellent floatability and selectivity of quartz was obtained at neutral slurry pH.
• The adsorption mechanism of NDIA on quart surface was illustrated.

In this paper, a novel surfactant N-dodecyl-isopropanolamine (NDIA) has been synthesized and utilized as a collector for flotation separation of quartz from hematite. The flotation performances and adsorption mechanisms of NDIA on quartz are investigated by flotation tests, FT-IR spectra studies, zeta potential measurements, and XPS analysis. Flotation results demonstrate that NDIA has excellent floatability and selectivity on quartz at a wide range of pulp pH (about 4.5–8.0). And the artificially mixed minerals of hematite and quartz could be separated effectively. The concentrate with iron recovery of 93.40% and iron grade of 67.16% is obtained at the slurry pH of 6.65 with 33.33 mg/L NDIA and 13.33 mg/L starch. FT-IR spectra studies, zeta potential measurements and XPS analysis reveal that NDIA could absorb on quartz surface in the forms of strong electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interaction.

NDIA, which had better defoaming ability than DDA was synthesized using dodecylamine and 1,2-epoxypropane in ethanol solution at 35 °C. Meanwhile, excellent floatability and selectivity of quartz was obtained using NDIA as collector.Figure optionsDownload as PowerPoint slide