New depression mechanism of polymeric depressant on titanaugite in ilmenite flotation

In this paper a polymer reagent, sodium polystyrene sulfonate (PSSNa), was introduced as the effective depressant of titanaugite in ilmenite ore flotation, in contrast to that most of the organic sulfonate were usually used as the collector. And the selective adsorption and depression mechanisms of PSSNa were investigated through diverse methods. The results of the exploratory trial on raw ilmenite ore flotation show that polymeric PSSNa is qualified for the depressant of titanaugite in ilmenite ore flotation, and has better depression performance relative to the traditional SS depressant. From the results of artificial ilmenite ore micro-flotation, PSSNa exhibited almost no effect on the ilmenite flotation but depressed strongly the titanaugite mineral, may being due to its selective adsorption onto ilmenite and titanaugite surface. This was determined by the consequences of surface micro-polarity detection. PSSNa on titanaugite cause the increase in surface polarity, thus the enhancement in hydrophilicity, and further the depression of its flotation. FTIR results illustrate that the adsorption of PSSNa on both minerals surface are mainly the chemisorption, and on ilmenite it is a weak adsorption while it is a stronger adsorption on titanaugite surface, which is the origin of its selectivity in ilmenite ore flotation.

Automated summary

This study demonstrates that the polymer reagent PSSNa can effectively depress titanaugite in ilmenite ore flotation, with selective adsorption onto the mineral surfaces being the key mechanism.