Research On The Influence Of Electrochemically Modified Flotation Reagents On The Flotation Behavior Of Muscovite

At present,there are still some problems such as low separation efficiency,poor flotation effect and high reagent costs in flotation technology of muscovite.Electrochemical treatment of flotation reagents is an effective means to improve the flotation effect of minerals.The effect of electrochemical pretreatment flotation reagents on the floatability of muscovite from Henan province was investigated systematically to push back the application of electrochemical technology in flotation technology of muscovite,then the mechanism of electrochemically pretreated flotation reagents on muscovite was explained by infrared spectroscopy and other means in order to supplement and improve the theory of muscovite flotation.On this basis,the following results have been achieved in this paper:The ability of electrochemical pretreatment to improve the properties of different agents was different.Among them,the collectability of sodium oleate to muscovite was weakened,and the activation of Fe³⁺,Pb²⁺and Ca²⁺to muscovite was weakened in varying degrees while the activation of Cu²⁺on muscovite was strengthened.In addition,electrochemical pretreatment could enhance the inhibition of sodium silicate,sodium hexametaphosphate,citric acid and tartaric acid on muscovite.The electrical conductivity of the sodium oleate solution was reduced by electrochemical pretreatment,which means this was the content of oleate ions in the sodium oleate solution was reduced,then the collection performance of sodium oleate on the muscovite was weakened.In addition,the electrochemical pretreatment also resulted in the increase of pH value of sodium oleate solution,and the pH value of the best pulp of flotation was drifting from 7 to 8.The reason for the drift was that the electrochemical pretreatment could reduce the oleate ions in sodium oleate solution.While the pH value of the pulp increased from 7 to 8,the content of oleate ions in the solution increased gradually to the maximum,then the action probability of oleate ions and muscovite was increased,therefore the pH value was drifting.After electrochemical pretreatment,the decrease of the activation of metal ions such as Fe³⁺,Pb²⁺and Ca²⁺on muscovite was for the reason that above-mentioned ions were converted into Fe²⁺,PbO₂or lead,and Ca（OH）₂with slightly solubility respectively by electrochemical pretreatment,which reduced the contents of Fe³⁺,Pb²⁺and Ca²⁺in solution thus decreased contents of them adsorbed on the surface of muscovite.Moreover,the Zeta potential of the muscovite surface increases negatively which weakened the electrostatic adsorption of sodium oleate on the surface of muscovite and is harmful to the physical and chemical adsorption of sodium oleate on the surface of muscovite too.The activation effect of Cu²⁺on muscovite after electrochemical pretreatment was enhanced because the electrochemical pretreatment on Cu²⁺solution could inhibit the hydrolysis of copper ions so increase the content of Cu²⁺in solution which strengthened the adsorption of Cu²⁺on the muscovite surface.In addition,copper ions with electrochemical pretreatment made the Zeta potential of the muscovite surface increase positively then improve the electrostatic adsorption of sodium oleate on the surface of muscovite,thereby strengthen the physical and chemical adsorption of sodium oleate on the surface of muscovite.The basic reason why the inhibition ability of inhibitors such as sodium silicate,sodium hexametaphosphate,citric acid and tartaric acid after electrochemical pretreatment to muscovite could be enhanced was that the electrochemical pretreatment could promote the degree of hydrolysis and ionization of the above-mentioned regulator solution.Thus the content of the effective components of the inhibitor in the solution was increased and the inorganic anion and organic anion on the surface of muscovite were strengthened.Besides,the Zeta potential on the surface of muscovite increased negatively,which weakened the electrostatic adsorption of sodium oleate on the surface of muscovite,and ultimately hindered the adsorption of sodium oleate on the muscovite surface.The research can provide a new idea for the flotation separation of muscovite and can also be used for reference to the flotation practice of electrochemical pretreatment reagents for other minerals.