Effect of phytic acid on the surface properties of scheelite and fluorite for their selective flotation

In this study, the effect of phytic acid (PA) on the surface properties of scheelite and fluorite was systematically investigated. PA was spontaneously adsorbed onto fluorite through electrostatic and chemical adsorption. By contrast, PA did not appear on the scheelite due to the reaction conditions, surface site, and steric hindrance. XPS measurements were utilized together with a solution chemistry analysis to understand better both the PA selective adsorption mechanism and the key factors derived from multi-layer adsorption onto fluorite, which was found to hinder completely that of NaOI.