Separation mechanism of ilmenite from titanaugite with mixed BHA/NaOL collector

The mixed BHA/NaOL surfactant was proposed as a flotation collector for the separation of ilmenite from titanaugite. Both experimental and computational studies were applied to reveal the interaction mechanism between minerals and mixed BHA/NaOL collector. Microflotation tests showed that the floatability of ilmenite was higher than titanaugite with mixed BHA/NaOL collector. The experiment of artificially mixed minerals achieved an excellent indicator with 86.50% of recovery and 39.42% of TiO2 grade. The results of zeta potential, AFM and XPS analyses indicated that the mixed BHA/NaOL interacted with Fe and Pb active sites and co-adsorbed onto the ilmenite surface, but only physical adsorption on the titanaugite surface. Simulation results evidenced that BHA/NaOL collectors could substitute water molecules on ilmenite surface rather than titanaugite and form a stable hydrophobic layer on the ilmenite surface. These observations contributed to enlarging the floatability difference between ilmenite and titanaugite.