Partial replacement of sodium oleate using alcohols with different chain structures in malachite flotation

The sodium oleate collector used in malachite flotation usually exhibits low selectivity. By partially replacing sodium oleate with alcohols, this study presents a method for increasing the selectivity of sodium oleate-based collectors in malachite flotation. By combining 3 × 10−5 mol/L alcohols, such as 1-octanol, 2-ethylhexanol, and α-terpineol, with 1 × 10−5 mol/L sodium oleate, malachite floatability values higher than 98% are achieved. Contact angle and zeta potential measurements reveal that the co-adsorption of alcohols with sodium oleate may be resulted from the hydrophobic interactions between their hydrocarbon chains. The co-adsorption of methyl isobutyl carbinol, along with its shorter hydrocarbon chain, makes it more difficult to render the malachite surface highly hydrophobic. However, the co-adsorption of straight-chain and branched-chain alcohols with sodium oleate shows the ability consistently to induce high malachite floatability.