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Hydrophobicity of Minerals Determined by Atomic Force Microscopy – A Tool for Flotation Research
Author(s) -
Rudolph Martin,
Peuker Urs Alexander
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
chemie ingenieur technik
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.365
H-Index - 36
eISSN - 1522-2640
pISSN - 0009-286X
DOI - 10.1002/cite.201400017
Subject(s) - atomic force microscopy , magnetite , mineral , chemistry , hydrophobic effect , colloid , quartz , chemical engineering , nanotechnology , chemical physics , materials science , organic chemistry , metallurgy , engineering
The mineral separation process flotation is fundamentally relying on hydrophobic interactions, which are still not entirely understood and heavily discussed in literature. Here, various possibilities to determine hydrophobic properties of mineral surfaces in water using the concept of colloidal probe atomic force microscopy are introduced. The method is based on the accepted theories of the hydrophobic effect of hydrophobic surfaces in water. Additionally, the hydrophobic parameters are correlated with microflotation experiments for magnetite and quartz surfaces.