Last modified: 2018-07-24
Abstract
The salt minerals (carbonates, sulphates, fluorides, and phosphates) represent an important family, whose properties are homogeneous due to the presence of cations and anions, between which there are ionic bonds. The collectors most commonly used as surfactants for these minerals are the long chain fatty acids and their alkaline salts, in particular oleic acid and sodium oleate.
The objective of this study is to compare the adsorption of various fatty acids on mineral surfaces of calcite and quartz by different analysis methods such as FTIR infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and UV-Visible spectrophotometry.
On the basis of this study, the adsorption of fatty acids is quantitatively greater than that on quartz, which confirms the possibility of separation of calcite from quartz by a process based on the difference in hydrophobicity of the studied minerals. This hydrophobicity is favored by the preferred use of fatty acids that act as collectors. The method used is flotation which involves these collectors under well defined pH and concentration conditions. All fatty acids have the carboxyl function, which is frequently invoked as a means by which organic acids attach to carbonate mineral surfaces.