HYDROPHOBICITY－HYDROPHILICITY BALANCE RELATIONSHIPSFORCOLLECTORLESSFLOTATIONOFSULPHIDEMINERALS

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Hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity balance relationships for collectorless flotation of sulphide minerals

Hydrophobicity-hydrophilicity balance relationships for self-induced and sodium sulfide-induced flotations of sulphide minerals have been established, through solvent extraction-chemical analysis of neutral sulphur (S°) on the surfaces, measurement of redox potential (E _pt) of flotation pulp, and flotation tests. They may be’indicated as S°]/OH⁻] and S°]/(OH⁻]+HS⁻]), respectively. The neutral suphur (S°) was considered to be responsible for the hydrophobicity, the amount (S°]) of which was controlled byE _pt. The critical value of S°] was proposed as a new concept. The hydrophilicity was contributed to OH⁻ ion for the self-induced flotation, and to both HS⁻ and OH⁻ ions for the Na₂S-induced flotation. At a given pH value, hydrophobicity and floatability increase with S°]. For different pH values, a higher pH value results in stronger hydrophilicity, and hence the hydrophobicity and flotation require more S°]. Lower pH values are in correspondence with the smaller S°]. Project Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China Synopsis of the first author Sun Shuiyu, born in May, 1965, received Ph. D in mineral processing in 1991, major research field is focused on chemistry in sulfide minerals flotation