| To date, the majority of the research into ink removal from secondary fiber by the flotation deinking method has centered about empirical research, and the fundamental mechanisms have not been well understood. In this study, the underlying mechanisms of "collector chemistry" are elucidated and found to be complex combinations of the ink particle interactions stemming from the nature of the surfactant/calcium relationship. While previous investigators employed long chain fatty acid surfactants typically used in industrial applications, this study focuses on two medium chain-length fatty acids (sodium octanoate and sodium dodecanoate) and a comparable chain-length sulfate (sodium dodecyl sulfate) so as to be able to observe the system behavior below the K... |
