Flotation and adsorption of quaternary ammonium cationic collectors on diaspore and kaolinite

Abstract The flotation and adsorption behaviors of dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride(DTAC) and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride(CTAC) on diaspore and kaolinite were studied. Solution depletion methods were used to determine adsorption isotherms. Fluorescence probe test along with Zeta potential measurement was also conducted for further investigation into the adsorption of quaternary amines at the mineral-water interface. The results show that the flotation recovery of kaolinite decreases with an increase in pH when DTAC and CTAC are used as collectors, while diaspore is on the contrary. As the carbon chain length of the collectors increases, the flotation recoveries of minerals increase. However, the increment rate of kaolinite is significantly lower than that of diaspore. In the low surfactant concentration range, the cationic surfactants adsorb readily on diaspore surfaces just due to electrostatic interactions. As for kaolinite surfaces, ion exchange process also exists. With a further increase in surfactant concentration, the adsorption was ascribed to the hydrophobic association of chain-chain interactions. Micro-polarity of mineral surfaces study shows that CTAC has a better hydrophobic characteristic than DTAC. Larger aggregates are formed with CTAC on diaspore than on kaolinite in the same solution concentration. The results also indicate that the chain length of cationic surfactants has a greater influence on the adsorption of diaspore than on kaolinite, which is consistent with the flotation result.