Investigation on flotation separation of bastnaesite from calcite and barite with a novel surfactant: Octylamino-bis-(butanohydroxamic acid)

Abstract

In order to improve the flotation separation efficiency of bastnaesite from barite and calcite, a novel collector, octylamino-bis-(butanohydroxamic acid) (OBHA), with large molecular structure and two functional groups was synthesized based on the molecular design of flotation reagents theory. OBHA was adopted as collector in both single, mixed binary and mixed ternary mineral flotation, the results indicated that bastnaesite could be selectively enriched from mixed mineral. Zeta potential measurements, Fourier transform infrared analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis and DFT calculation were performed to study the selective adsorption mechanism of OBHA. Zeta potential measurements, FTIR spectra analysis and XPS detection demonstrated that OBHA was chemically adsorbed on bastnaesite surface, whereas the interaction between OBHA with calcite and barite was weak. DFT calculation results indicated OBHA matched well with bastnaesite surface thereby improved the selectivity.