Utilisation of propyl gallate as a novel selective collector for diaspore flotation

Abstract Propyl gallate (propyl 3, 4, 5-trihydroxybenzoate; PG) was introduced as a new type of collector for diasporic bauxite flotation. The flotation performance of PG for diaspore and kaolinite was evaluated by comparing PG with sodium oleate (NaOl) as a typical collector through micro flotation tests. The results indicated that PG had higher collection ability for diaspore than for kaolinite at 15 mg/L and pH 7–9. Compared with NaOl, PG also exhibited higher selectivity for diaspore against kaolinite. Analyses of zeta potentials, adsorption amount, Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) revealed that PG adsorbed onto diaspore surfaces through chemical adsorption and hydrogen bonding, whereas PG hardly adsorbed onto kaolinite surfaces. Specifically, PG chelated with Al atoms on the diaspore surfaces by forming five-member rings through its ortho oxygens. These findings indicated that PG could be adopted as a novel collector for diaspore flotation and the activated phenolic hydroxyl groups also offered new insights for the development of flotation collectors.