Research on the adsorption of humic acid on pyrite surface

Abstract

There are limited researches on the adsorption mechanism of humic acid depressant on pyrite in the flotation of bauxite. The adsorption behaviors of humic acid on pyrite were studied in this work. The effects of pH, ionic strength and temperature on the adsorption were discussed. The results demonstrate that the adsorption capacity decreased with the increase of pH, while increased with the increase of ionic strength. The kinetic data can be fitted with quasi-second order kinetic equation. The adsorption was in accordance with Freundlich adsorption model. The adsorption of humic acid on pyrite was exothermic reaction.