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The flotation of unoxidized and oxidized molybdenite fines is a challenging job worldwide. In this work, dodecylamine (DDA) was developed as a potential collector to improve the flotation of molybdenite fines with and without oxidation. The flotation behaviors and interaction mechanisms were probed through flotation tests, contact angle, Zeta potential, Scanning Electron Microscope-Energy Dispersive Spectrometer(SEM-EDS), and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The flotation tests revealed that DDA improved the flotation of unoxidized or oxidized molybdenite fines efficiently. The results of Zeta potential, contact angle, and SEM-EDS uncovered that a substantial number of DDA species adsorbed on both fresh and oxidized molybdenite faces and edges, thus enhancing their hydrophobicity. XPS analysis further manifested that RNH2 and RNH3+ adsorbed on the S atoms of fresh faces through hydrogen bonding. Meanwhile, RNH2 and RNH3+ mainly adsorbed on fresh edges via chemical bonding between amine groups and Mo sites and electrostatic force. For oxidized molybdenite, RNH2 and RNH3+ interacted with oxidized faces through hydrogen bonding while adsorbed on oxidized edges via hydrogen bonding and electrostatic interaction.

Iron oxides are ubiquitous in the environment and often contain impurities because of their substitution by Al, Mn, Co, and other metals. However, few studies have focused on Co substitution and subsequent Pb(II) adsorption on its surfaces. Herein, the effect of the isomorphic substitution of Co on the physiochemical properties of goethite and the atomic-level mechanisms of lead sorption in relation to structural changes were investigated in this work. The results showed that Co substitution reduced the unit cell parameters and crystallinity of goethite. More Fe-OH groups on the surface were exposed with Co substitution, leading to the preferential sorption of Pb. The DFT calculations further revealed that the valence band was shortened and the total density of states was more biased towards the Fermi level in Co-substituted goethite, making the surface electrons more active. In addition, both Pb2+ and Pb(OH)+ were adsorbed by goethite, forming a tridentate complex with three oxygen atoms. In this process, sp3 hybridization mainly occurred. These results provide a new perspective for studying the properties of Co-substituted goethite and its reaction with lead, helping to expand the application of DFT calculations to simulate and predict the fixation and mobilization of heavy metals in goethite-rich soils/sediments.

Volumetric solar evaporations by using light-absorbing nanoparticles suspended in liquids (nanofluids) as solar absorbers have been widely regarded as one of the promising solutions for clean water production because of its high efficiency and low capital cost compared to traditional solar distillation systems. Nevertheless, previous solar evaporation systems usually required highly concentrated solar irradiation and high capital cost, limiting the practical application on a large scale. Herein, for the first time in this work, polydopamine (PDA)-capped nano Fe3O4 (Fe3O4@PDA) nanofluids were used as solar absorbers in a volumetric system for solar evaporation. The introduction of organic PDA to nano Fe3O4 highly contributed to the high light-absorbing capacity of over 85% in wide ranges of 200–2400 nm because of the existence of numerous carbon bonds and pi (π) bonds in PDA. As a result, high evaporation efficiency of 69.93% under low irradiation of 1.0 kW m−2 was achieved. Compared to other nanofluids, Fe3O4@PDA nanofluids also provided an advantage in high unit evaporation rates. Moreover, Fe3O4@PDA nanofluids showed excellent reusability and recyclability owing to the preassembled nano Fe3O4, which significantly reduced the material consumptions. These results demonstrated that the Fe3O4@PDA nanofluids held great promising application in highly efficient solar evaporation.

Antibiotics are mostly collected by sewage systems, but not completely removed within wastewater treatment plants. Their release to aquatic environment poses a great threat to public health. This study evaluated the removal of a widely used fluoroquinolone antibiotic, ciprofloxacin, in enriched nitrifying culture through a series of experiments by controlling ammonium concentrations and inhibiting functional microorganisms. The removal efficiency of ciprofloxacin at an initial concentration of 50 μg L−1 reached 81.86 ± 3.21% in the presence of ammonium, while only 22.83 ± 8.22% of ciprofloxacin was removed in its absence. A positive linear correlation was found between the ammonia oxidation rate (AOR) and ciprofloxacin biodegradation rate. These jointly confirmed the importance of the AOB-induced cometabolism in ciprofloxacin biodegradation, with adsorption and metabolic degradation pathways playing minor roles. The continuous exposure of AOB to ciprofloxacin led to decreases of ammonia monooxygenase (AMO) activities and AOR. The antibacterial effects of ciprofloxacin and its biodegradation products were further evaluated and the results revealed that biodegradation products of ciprofloxacin exhibited less toxicity compared to the parent compound, implying the potential application of cometabolism in alleviation of antimicrobial activity. The findings provided new insights into the AOB-induced cometabolic biodegradation of fluoroquinolone antibiotics. HIGHLIGHTS Cometabolic biodegradation was the major removal pathway of ciprofloxacin.; Contributions from metabolism by AOB and heterotrophs were insignificant.; AOR, AMO activities and amoA gene abundance decreased during exposure.; Cometabolic biodegradation products exhibited less toxicity than ciprofloxacin.;

It is crucial but challenging to detect intermediate or end products promptly. Traditional chemical detection methods are time-consuming and cannot detect mineral phase content. Thermal infrared hyperspectral (TIH) technology is an effective means of real-time imaging and can precisely capture the emissivity characteristics of objects. This study introduces TIH to estimate the content of potassium salts, with a model based on Competitive Adaptive Reweighted Sampling (CARS) and Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR). The model takes the emissivity spectrum of potassium salt into account and accurately predicts the content of Mixing Potassium (MP), a mineral mixture produced in Lop Nur, Xinjiang. The main mineral content in MP was measured by Mineral Liberation Analyzer (MLA), mainly including picromerite, potassium chloride, magnesium sulfate, and less sodium chloride. 129 configured MP samples were divided into calibration (97 samples) and prediction (32 samples) sets. The CARS-PLSR method achieved good prediction results for MP mineral content (picromerite: correlation coefficient of correction set (Rp2) = 0.943, predicted root mean square error (RMSEP) = 2.72%, relative predictive deviation (RPD) = 4.24; potassium chloride: Rp2 = 0.948, RMSEP = 2.86%, RPD = 4.42). Experimental results convey that TIH technology can effectively identify the emissivity characteristics of MP minerals, facilitating quantitative detection of MP mineral content.

As the critical ecological engineers, biological soil crusts (biocrusts) are considered to play essential roles in improving substrate conditions during ecological rehabilitation processes. Physical disturbance, however, often leads to the degradation of biocrusts, and it remains unclear how the physical disturbance affects biocrust microorganisms and their related metabolism. In this study, the photosynthetic biomass (indicated by chlorophyll a), nutrients, enzyme activities, and bacterial communities of biocrusts were investigated in a gold mine tailing of Central China to evaluate the impact of physical disturbance on biocrusts during the rehabilitation process of gold mine tailings. The results show that physical disturbance significantly reduced the photosynthetic biomass, nutrient contents (organic carbon, ammonium nitrogen, nitrate nitrogen, and total phosphorus), and enzyme activities (β-glucosidase, sucrase, nitrogenase, neutral phosphatase, and urease) of biocrusts in the mine tailings. Furthermore, 16S rDNA sequencing showed that physical disturbance strongly changed the composition, structure, and interactions of the bacterial community, leading to a shift from a cyanobacteria dominated community to a heterotrophic bacteria (proteobacteria, actinobacteria, and acidobacteria) dominated community and a more complex bacterial network (higher complexity, nodes, and edges). Altogether, our results show that the biocrusts dominated by cyanobacteria could also develop in the tailings of humid region, and the dominants (e.g., Microcoleus) were the same as those from dryland biocrusts; nevertheless, physical disturbance significantly reduced cyanobacterial relative abundance in biocrusts. Based on our findings, we propose the future work on cyanobacterial inoculation (e.g., Microcoleus), which is expected to promote substrate metabolism and accumulation, ultimately accelerating the development of biocrusts and the subsequent ecological restoration of tailings.

Alkali-activated binders based on metakaolin, fly ash and slag without curing were exposed directly in air, Na2SO4 and MgSO4 solutions for studying the evolution in mechanical strength and microstructure. A series of binders were synthesized and characterized on 7, 21, 45, 60, 75 and 90 days, respectively. Compressive strength measurement, scanning electron microscope (SEM) mapping, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and unclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were applied in the study. It is found that the exposure in sulfate solutions leaded to the deterioration of the binders by the dissolution of alkalis. In Na2SO4 solution, a higher percentage of zeolite was formed in the binders. While in MgSO4, a precipitate layer (e.g., brucite and gypsum), forming on the binder surface plays an important role in protecting the formation of gel, promoting the compressive strength improvement of alkali-activated slag, and compensating the decrease in compressive strength of alkali-activated metakaolin. These results provide clues for the direct preparation of alkali-activated concrete in aggressive sulfate environment.

Microwave-assisted leaching as a green and efficient method for leaching chalcopyrite has attracted increasing attention. Researchers have actively explored the reasons why microwaves have a positive impact on copper extraction. In this work, X-ray diffraction (XRD), an optical microscope, electron probe micro-analyzer (EPMA) and field emission scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectrometer (SEM-EDS) were employed to investigate the surface structure modification of chalcopyrite by microwave during leaching. The modified chalcopyrite had a positive effect on better mineral leachability, higher effective surface for leaching, and the fewer passivation layer. The superior mineral leachability was related to the surplus intermediate products of covellite, while microwave promoted the conversion of chalcopyrite to covellite. In addition, microwave is capable of increasing active sites upon the removal of the passivation layer and the enlargement of the effective reaction surface. This work summarized the relationship between the high copper recovery and the surface structure modification of chalcopyrite systematically. Keywords: Microwave-assisted leaching, Chalcopyrite, Modification, Surface structure, Passivation layer

The strength and deformation of a soil foundation are related to the strength of each particle. Maybe the shape affects the strength of a particle. In this study, single-particle breakage tests were conducted on limestone particles of different sizes to analyze the influence of limestone particle shapes on the particle crushing strength. The results showed that 90 percent of limestone particle shapes were oblate spherical, subspherical, and long spherical particles randomly selected from the soil foundation. The single-particle breakage test results showed that the characteristic stress of limestone particles increases with the increased particle size. The crushing strength of limestone particles increased with the increase in particle size. There was a significant size effect on the single-particle compressive strength. The relationship between the characteristic strength and the particle size can be fitted by a power exponential formulation of four types of limestone particle shapes. The more irregular the particle shape, the smaller the Weibull modulus (m) and the power index and the more obvious the particle strength size effect.

Escherichia coli as water-borne bacteria exists in the recirculation water of coal flotation and affects the recovery of coal flotation. In order to study the effect of Escherichia coli on coal flotation, we changed the concentration of Escherichia coli and pH in the coal flotation system and found that Escherichia coli had an adverse effect on coal flotation. The concentration of Escherichia coli was negatively correlated with the recovery of coal. When the concentration of Escherichia coli reached 5.0 × 109 cells/ml, the recovery of coal flotation was 50.25%, and the change of pH basically did not affect the adverse effect of Escherichia coli on coal flotation. The mechanism was studied through Zeta potential, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Scanning electron microscopy and Contact angle measurements. The results revealed that Escherichia coli could be adsorbed to the coal surface by hydrogen bonding, which changed the hydrophobicity of the coal surface and then reduced the recovery of coal flotation.

Alkali fusion of granite sawdust at a high alkali dosage can significantly improve geopolymerization activity, but also result in a high alkali consumption and a poor geopolymer performance. In this work, quartz, the most inert component in granite sawdust, was selected to explore the effect of low-alkali activation on its reactivity and the compressive strength of geopolymer. It was found that the amount of activated quartz is mainly determined by the amount of alkali used for activation. The surface of a quartz particle can be effectively activated by an alkali fusion process at a low alkali dosage of 5%. The metakaolin-based geopolymer synthesized with quartz activated by an alkali dosage of 5% shows a high compressive strength of 41 MPa, which can be attributed to the enhanced interfacial interaction between quartz and the geopolymer gel, suggesting that low-alkali activation is a potential way to improve the geopolymerization ability of granite sawdust.

Solidification/stabilization (S/S) of a zinc mine tailing through geopolymerization has been studied. The mechanical property and microstructure of the mine tailings based-geopolymers were investigated through compressive strength measurements, FTIR, NMR and SEM characterizations. The stabilization of zinc in the geopolymers was analyzed through toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) and the immobilization forms were characterized through XPS. With the content of metakaolin in raw materials increased from 0 to 50%, the amount of geopolymer gel in the binders and the compressive strength of geopolymer increased. As a ratio of metakaolin to mine tailings of 1:1, the mine tailings promoted the formation of silica-rich gel and the compressive strength of geopolymer was 30.1 MPa which was similar to pure metakaolin-based geopolymer. The immobilization efficiency of Zn in the geopolymers is correlated to their mechanical property. Zinc is immobilized in the geopolymers through physical encapsulation and adsorption of the leached Zn2+ by geopolymer gel. Keywords: Mine tailings, Geopolymerization, Solidification/stabilization, Immobilization

In this research, metakaolin-based geopolymers were synthesized to study their deterioration in marine environment. The geopolymers were exposed in air, seawater, dry-wet and heat-cool cycles of seawater for 30, 60 and 90 days. The mechanical property of the geopolymers was characterized through compressive strength measurements, and their microstructures were measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) apparatus. It was found that seawater environment inhibited the geopolymerization reactions, so that a low amount of tetrahedral silicon of Q4(4Al), Q4(3Al) and Q4(2Al) were formed. Keywords: Metakaolin geopolymer, Microstructure, Marine environment, NMR spectra

Swelling of montmorillonite (MMT) is a nonnegligible factor in many industrial processes owing to its great ability to absorb water in interlayer space. It is not easy to determine whether the exchangeable cations or the MMT layers interacts much stronger with water molecules to provide the dominant driving force for the swelling of MMT. In this work, driving force for the swelling of montmorillonite as affected by surface charge and exchangeable cations has been investigated through molecular dynamics simulations (MDs). The adsorption energy between water molecules and MMT layers and between interlayer cations and water molecules was calculated to qualitatively characterize the driving force for the swelling of MMT, and higher negative adsorption energy means greater driving force. It is found that the adsorption energy between interlayer cations and water molecules are far higher than that between MMT layers and water molecules. Thus, it is the exchangeable cations that provide the dominant driving force for MMT to swell. Besides, it is observed that interlayer cations with stronger hydration ability (Mg > Ca > Na > K) have more negative adsorption energy to water molecules, which indicates that the stronger the hydration ability of exchangeable cations the greater contribution they make to the total driving force for the swelling of MMT. Keywords: Swelling, Montmorillonite, Surface charge, Exchangeable cations, Molecular dynamic simulations

Geothermal clay rich in kaolinite was first prepared into geopolymers in the preparation of alkali-activated cementitious binders (AACBs). Effects of silica sand and steel fiber aggregates on the microstructure and mechanical strength of the geothermal-metakaolin-based geopolymer were studied. Measurements of compressive strength, X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) were used to characterize the geopolymers. With the replacement of silica sand, combination between sand and geopolymer gel was formed, the geopolymers therefore showed compressive strength higher than 34 MPa with silica sand up to 50%. However, silica sand of coarse particle size (0.3–0.6 mm) caused porous structure in the geopolymers, hindering the increase in their compressive strength. With the replacement of steel fiber, the flexural strength and flexural fracture toughness of the geopolymers were greatly improved. Keywords: Geopolymer, Microstructure, Aggregates, Geothermal clay, Metakaolin

The potential of using Portland cement-porous hematite composite granules (CHG) as a new adsorbent for the adsorption of As(V) from aqueous solution was investigated in this study. This research was performed through the measurements of adsorption isotherm, adsorption kinetics, X-ray diffraction (XRD), mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP), scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray detector (EDX). The pore structure of CHG was extraordinary developed with the porosity, the total pore volume and the average pore diameter being 45.48%, 0.3586 mL/g and 62.7 nm, respectively. From the adsorption batch of As(V) on porous hematite and CHG, CHG exhibited a high adsorption capacity of 9.84 mg/g for As(V), slightly lower than the porous hematite adsorbent. It was observed that CHG kept greater than 83% adsorption capacity of the porous hematite. However, CHG was convenient in solid-liquid separation after adsorption benefited from its high mechanical strength, stability in solutions and big size, which could be separated directly from the water without any other equipment and technology. As a result, this work provides a theoretical basis for the practical application of granular adsorbents to the actual As(V) sewage. Keywords: Porous hematite, Portland cement, Granule, As(V) adsorption, Solid-liquid separation

The effects of the crystallinity of natural graphites on the electrochemical performance of the resulting reduced graphene oxides (RGOs) were systematically researched. Electrochemical measurements were first carried out to characterize the electrochemical performances of the RGOs. The results showed that the RGO prepared from flaky graphite (FG) hold the best electrochemical performance with the greatest specific capacitance, the smallest charge transfer resistance (Rct), the best capacitive behavior, and the lowest ions diffusion resistance in comparison with the other RGOs synthesized from natural lumpy graphite (LG) and amorphous graphite (AG) under the same conditions. Furthermore, XPS and Raman analysis were conducted to scientifically explain the phenomena. The results illustrated that RGO prepared from FG (FRGO) hold the highest reduction degree, the greatest size of the in-plane sp2 domains, and the fewest defects, leading FRGO to hold the best electrochemical performance. The crystallinity of natural graphite affected the microstructure of the resulting RGO by influencing its oxidation, exfoliation and chemical reduction process, and then indirectly controlled the electrochemical properties of the RGO. Keywords: Reduced graphene oxide, Natural graphite, Crystallinity, Electrochemical performance

Exploring new ways to acquire niobium resources is essential to resolve niobium supply risks, due to the fact that, at present, 99% of niobium is controlled by only two countries. In the present work, a flotation technique was applied to separate niobium from low-grade niobite ore. To maximize the utilization of the original ore resources, pre-flotation was conducted to recover sulfur and eliminate the adverse effects of sulfide on niobite flotation. The obtained sulfur grade and recovery were 33.74% and 92.04%, respectively, and its concentration ratio was 40x. As for the niobite flotation, a closed-circuit experiment with one rougher flotation, three cleaner flotations, and two scavenger flotations was carried out to achieve the maximum niobite recovery. To further improve the niobite recovery, a leaching process with diluted HCl was employed; the final obtained Nb2O5 grade and recovery were 30.19% and 65.04%, respectively, and the concentration ratio reached 242x. Moreover, the economic evaluation implies that the flotation process can attract great positive interest.

The detrimental effects of slimes on the flotation of rutile from eclogite ore have been studied in this work in order to improve the separation efficiency of the flotation. The study was performed through particle size distribution measurement and mineralogical analysis. The results have demonstrated that the slimes were enriched in the concentrates, which became seriously with the increase of slime contents in feed ore. The presence of slimes resulted in the involvement of a large amount of omphacite and garnet into the concentrates, deteriorating the flotation selectivity in both of fine and coarse size fraction. Accordingly, de-sliming pretreatment was applied to the flotation, which significantly improved the flotation efficiency of rutile from eclogite ore for increasing TiO2 grade and recovery of concentrates. Keywords: Rutile, Eclogite, Slimes, De-sliming flotation

Superconduction was firstly combined into pulsating high gradient magnetic separation (PHGMS) technology to improve its separation performance for ultrafine magnetic particles. In this investigation, the superconducting PHGMS (SPHGMS) process was theoretically described and a cyclic pilot-scale SLon-CD100 superconducting PHGMS (SPHGMS) separator with magnetic induction reaching 9.0 T was briefly introduced, and then the separator was used to purify an ultrafine kaolin ore and separate a low-grade chalcopyrite ore. The separator has achieved a significantly improved removal rate for iron impurities from the kaolin ore compared with the PHGMS method, and it achieved an effective separation for the chalcopyrite ore with Cu recovery reaching higher than 90%. This SPHGMS method has provided a highly prospective technique for the purification of ultrafine non-metallic ores, and a potential approach for the sufficiently economic separation of magnetically non-ferrous ores such as chalcopyrite ore. Keywords: Superconducting PHGMS, Processing of fine particles, Kaolin, Chalcopyrite

Montmorillonite (MMT) is easily exfoliated to two-dimensional nanosheets for making multifunctional nanocomposite materials. In this work, exfoliated MMT nanosheets have been studied in order to understand the correlation of the aspect ratio with the colloidal properties. The nanosheets with various aspect ratios were prepared through controlling the number of the freezing thawing cycles and the power of the ultrasonic exfoliation, and the colloidal properties were determined through the measurements of atomic force microscope (AFM), zeta potential, acid-base back-titration, viscosity and turbidity. It has been shown that as the aspect ratio increased, the negative zeta potential of MMT nanosheets increased, and the active sites with H+ or OH− on the surfaces decreased, indicating that the MMT nanosheets with lower aspect ratio were easier to coagulate. Meanwhile, the viscosity of the MMT suspensions at high shear rate increased with increasing the aspect ratio. It suggests that the aspect ratio has a strong effect on the colloidal properties of MMT nanosheets, which might be helpful of the applications of MMT nanosheets in functional nanocomposite areas. Keywords: Montmorillonite nanosheets, Aspect ratio, Zeta potential distribution, Rheology

In this work, the hydrophobic agglomeration of apatite fines induced by sodium oleate in aqueous solutions has been investigated through the measurement of agglomeration degree and fractal dimension. The results showed that the agglomeration degree of apatite fines and agglomerates morphology was strongly depended on sodium oleate concentration, pH, stirring speed and time. Better agglomeration degree and more regular agglomerates were achieved at sodium oleate concentration of 5 × 10−5 mol/L under neutral condition. The critical stirring speed for agglomerates rupture was 1000 rev/min, above which, prolonged stirring time would cause breakage and restructure of the agglomerates after a certain stirring time, resulting in lower agglomeration degree and more regular agglomerates. The agglomeration degree of apatite fines could be greatly enhanced with the addition of emulsified kerosene, but only if the apatite surface was hydrophobic enough. Keywords: Hydrophobic agglomeration, Apatite fines, Agglomeration degree, Fractal dimension, Sodium oleate

The microwave-assisted leaching was a new approach to intensify the copper recovery from chalcopyrite by hydrometallurgy. In this work, the effect of microwave-assisted heating on chalcopyrite leaching of kinetics, interfacial reaction temperature and surface energy were investigated. The activation energy of chalcopyrite leaching was affected indistinctively by the microwave-assisted heating (39.1 kJ/mol) compared with the conventional heating (43.9 kJ/mol). However, the boiling point of the leaching system increased through microwave-assisted heating. Because of the improved boiling point and the selective heating of microwave, the interfacial reaction temperature increased significantly, which gave rise to the increase of the leaching recovery of copper. Moreover, the surface energy of the chalcopyrite through microwave-assisted heating was also enhanced, which was beneficial to strengthen the leaching of chalcopyrite. Keywords: Microwave-assisted heating, Chalcopyrite, Leaching kinetics, Interface temperature, Surface energy

A novel chemical scheme for the flotation of rutile from eclogite tailings has been developed in this work. It consists of lead ion as the activator, sodium fluorosilicate (SF) as the depressant, and styryl phosphonic acid (SPA) and n-octyl alcohol (OCT) as the collector. By using the proposed scheme to treat a feed ore of 4.5% TiO2, a rougher concentrate of grade 84.47% TiO2 was achieved with the recovery of 61.5%. Also, the scheme made a high flotation rate for rutile. The scheme was applied to closed-circuit flotation (one-stage rougher flotation, two-stage scavenger flotation and two-stage cleaner flotation), produced a concentrate of 92% TiO2 with the recovery of 70%. It is shown that the new chemical scheme would be a potential one for the effective separation of rutile from eclogite ores. Keywords: Rutile, Flotation, Reagents, Eclogite tailings

The adsorption of gold cyanide complex ion (Au(CN)2−) on graphene oxide-polyethylenimine hydrogel (GO/PEI hydrogel) from gold cyanidation has been studied to explore the possibility of the application of GO/PEI hydrogel in gold cyanidation process for extracting gold from ores. The adsorption was carried out in artificial Au(CN)2− aqueous solution with GO/PEI hydrogel as adsorbent. The experimental results, as well as IR, XPS and SEM−EDS, have shown that GO/PEI hydrogel exhibited a high adsorption capacity and a fast adsorption rate of Au(CN)2−, suggesting that GO/PEI hydrogel might be a good adsorbent for the recovery of Au(CN)2−. The adsorption of Au(CN)2− on GO/PEI hydrogel obeyed the Langmuir isotherm model and fitted well with the pseudo second order model. The good recovery of Au(CN)2− was largely related to the porous structure, large specific surface area, as well as the oxygenous functional groups on the surface of GO/PEI hydrogel. Keywords: Graphene oxide, Polyethylenimine, Hydrogel, Cyanide complex ion

HGMS is effective in separating or filtering fine and weakly magnetic particles and widely applied in mineral processing, water treatment, cell and protein purification. The magnetic matrix is a crucial device used in magnetic separator to generate high magnetic field gradient and provide surface sites for capturing magnetic particles. The material, geometry, size and arrangement of the matrix elements can significantly affect the gradient and distribution of the magnetic field, and the separating or filtrating performance. In this paper, the researches and developments of magnetic matrices used in HGMS are reviewed. Keywords: Magnetic matrix, HGMS, Review

Cationic surfactants in water are difficult to be degraded, leading to serious water pollution. In this work, graphene oxide (GO) was used as an adsorbent for removing Dodecylamine Hydrochloride (DACl), a representative cationic surfactant. X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR spectroscopy and atomic force microscope (AFM) were used to characterize the prepared GO. The adsorption of DACl on GO have been investigated through measurements of adsorption capacity, zeta potential, FTIR, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The experimental results have shown that the adsorption kinetics could be described as a rate-limiting pseudo second-order process, and the adsorption isotherm agreed well with the Freundlich model. GO was a good adsorbent for DACl removal, compared with coal fly ash and powdered activated carbon. The adsorption process was endothermic, and could be attributed to electrostatic interaction and hydrogen bonding between DACl and GO. Keywords: Graphene oxide, Dodecylamine hydrochloride, Adsorption isotherm, Adsorption mechanisms

This paper aims at demonstrating the significance of biochar risk evaluation and reviewing risk evaluation from the aspects of pyrolysis process, feedstock, and sources of hazards in biochar and their potential effects and the methods used in risk evaluation. Feedstock properties and the resultant biochar produced at different pyrolysis process influence their chemical, physical, and structural properties, which are vital in understanding the functionality of biochar. Biochar use has been linked to some risks in soil application such as biochar being toxic, facilitating GHGs emission, suppression of the effectiveness of pesticides, and effects on soil microbes. These potential risks originate from feedstock, contaminated feedstock, and pyrolysis conditions that favor the creation of characteristics and functional groups of this nature. These toxic compounds formed pose a threat to human health through the food chain. Determination of toxicity levels is a first step in the risk management of toxic biochar. Various sorption methods of biochar utilized low-cost adsorbents, engineered surface functional groups, and nZVI modified biochars. The mechanisms of organic compound removal was through sorption, enhanced sorption, modified biochar, postpyrolysis thermal air oxidation and that of PFRs degradation was through activation, photoactive functional groups, magnetization, and hydrothermal synthesis. Emissions of GHGs in soils amended with biochar emanated through physical and biotic mediated mechanisms. BCNs have a significance in reducing the health quotient indices for PTEs risk contamination by suppressing cancer risk arising from consumption of contaminated food. The degree of environmental risk assessment of HM pollution in biomass and biochars has been determined by using potential ecological risk index and RAC while organic contaminant degradation by EPFRs was considered when assessing the environmental roles of biochar in regulating the fate of contaminants removal. The magnitude of technologies’ net benefit must be considered in relation to the associated risks.

The hydrophilic flocculation of pyrite fines in aqueous suspensions with corn starch was studied by measuring particle size distribution, microscopy observation and micro-flotation. Furthermore, the interaction of corn starch with pyrite was investigated by determining the adsorption density and based on zeta potential measurements and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS) analysis in this work. The results of the particle size distribution measurement show that corn starch can effectively aggregate pyrite fines, and the pyrite floccules (flocs) are sensitive to mechanical stirring. The micro-flotation results suggest that the mechanical entrainment of pyrite fines in flotation can be effectively eliminated through the formation of large-size flocs. The zeta potential of pyrite particles decreases with the addition of corn starch. The XPS results prove that carboxyl groups are generated on the digested corn starch, and both iron hydroxyl compounds and ferrous disulfide on the pyrite surface can chemically interact with the corn starch digested by sodium hydroxide.

The effects of growth phase on the lipid content and surface properties of oleaginous microalgae Botryococcus sp. FACGB-762, Chlorella sp. XJ-445 and Desmodesmus bijugatus XJ-231 were investigated in this study. The results showed that throughout the growth phases, the lipid content of microalgae increased. The surface properties like particle size, the degree of hydrophobicity, and the total concentration of functional groups increased while net surface zeta potential decreased. The results suggested that the growth stage had significant influence not only on the lipid content but also on the surface characteristics. Moreover, the lipid content was significantly positively related to the concentration of hydroxyl functional groups in spite of algal strains or growth phases. These results provided a basis for further studies on the refinery process using oleaginous microalgae for biofuel production.

This study developed a coagulation–flotation process for microalgae Chlorella sp. XJ-445 harvesting, which was composed of algal surface modification by combined use of Al3+ and cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and followed dispersed bubble flotation. Dissolved organic matter (DOM) in the medium was firstly characterized and mainly consisted of hydrophilic low molecular weight molecules. The dosage of collector (CTAB) and coagulant (Al3+) were optimized, and with the pretreatment of 40 mg Al3+ and 60 mg CTAB per 1 g dry biomass without pH adjustment, a maximum flotation recovery efficiency of 98.73% can be achieved with the presence of DOM. Algal cells characterization results showed that the combined use of CTAB and Al3+ largely enhanced the algal floc size, and exhibited higher degree of hydrophobicity, which favoured the flotation, and can be interpreted by DLVO (Derjaguin, Landau, Verwey and Overbeek) modelling. A benefit in fatty acid conversion was further found with the optimized coagulation–flotation process. It was suggested that this coagulation based flotation is a promising strategy for high-efficiency harvesting of microalgae.

Malachite fines are easily produced in the grinding process, leading to low malachite flotation recovery. Floc-flotation of malachite fines with an octyl hydroxamate and kerosene mixture was studied to improve the flotation recovery, using microflotation, microscopy image observations, contact angle measurements, and Extended Derjguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (EDLVO) analysis. The results showed that the addition of octyl hydroxamate as an emulsifier of kerosene enhanced the aggregation of malachite fines and improved malachite flotation recovery. In addition, when kerosene droplets were smaller and of uniform size distribution, the spreading of kerosene droplets on the malachite surface improved. The enhanced spreading of kerosene droplets led to higher coverage of kerosene on the malachite surface, resulting in improved hydrophobic aggregation and flotation recovery.

Polymer⁻clay membranes constructed via the layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly, with a nanobrick wall structure, are known to exhibit high flame retardancy. In this work, chitosan⁻montmorillonite nanosheet (CH⁻MMTNS) membranes with different thickness of MMTNS were constructed to suppress the flammability of flexible polyurethane (FPU) foam. It was found that a thinner MMTNS membrane was more efficient in terms of reducing the flammability of the FPU foam. This was because such MMTNS membrane could deposit cheek by jowl and form a dense CH⁻MMTNS membrane on the foam surface, thus greatly limiting the translation of heat, oxygen, and volatile gases. In contrast, a thicker MMTNS constructed a fragmentary CH⁻MMTNS membrane on the coated foam surface, due to its greater gravity and weaker electrostatic attraction of chitosan; thus, the flame retardancy of a thick MMTNS membrane was lower. Moreover, the finding of different deposition behaviors of MMTNS membranes with different thickness may suggest improvements for the application of clay with the LbL assembly technology.

Heavy metals usually referred to those with atomic weights ranging from 63.5 to 200.6. Because of natural-mineral dissolution and human activities such as mining, pesticides, fertilizer, metal planting and batteries manufacture, etc., these heavy metals, including zinc, copper, mercury, lead, cadmium and chromium have been excessively released into water courses, like underground water, lake and river, etc. The ingestion of the heavy metals-contaminated water would raise serious health problems to human beings even at a low concentration. For instance, lead can bring human beings about barrier to the normal function of kidney, liver and reproductive system, while zinc can cause stomach cramps, skin irritations, vomiting and anemia. Mercury is a horrible neurotoxin that may result in damages to the central nervous system, dysfunction of pulmonary and kidney, chest and dyspnea. Chromium (VI) has been proved can cause many diseases ranging from general skin irritation to severe lung carcinoma. Accordingly, the World Health Organization announced the maximum contaminant levels (MCL) for the heavy metals in drinking water. There are numerous processes for eliminating heavy metals from water in order to provide citizens safe drinking water, including precipitation, adsorption, ion exchange, membrane separation and biological treatment, etc. Adsorption is considered as a potential process for deeply removing heavy metals, in which the selection of adsorbents plays a predominant role.Nano-sheet minerals as the adsorbents are currently the hottest researches in the field. They are obtained from layered minerals, such as montmorillonite, graphite and molybdenite, through the processing of intercalation, electrochemical and mechanical exfoliation, etc. Nano-sheet minerals are featured by their large specific surface area, relatively low costs and active adsorbing sites, leading to be effective and potential adsorbents for heavy metals removal from water.Montmorillonite was usually pre-interacted with organics to increase the interlayer space, and then exfoliated to single or several layers by ultraphonic. Among the nano-sheets, the surfaces are strongly charged negatively, while the edges are positively charged. This characteristic allows the adsorption of cations or anions, as well as the substances with negative or positive charges.Graphite can be oxidized and exfoliated into graphene oxide (GO), which has a huge specific surface area and plentiful of functional groups such as carboxyl, epoxy, carbonyl and hydroxyl, leading to high adsorption capacity to heavy metals in water.Nano-sheet molybdenite is a novel two-dimensional material with single or several layers of MoS2 sheets. The most common method to prepare nano-sheet molybdenite is exfoliated from bulk molybdenite through chemical method based on ion intercalation process. A large quantity of functional groups and S atom on the sheets are the active sites for adsorbing heavy metals in water. Nano-sheet minerals are used as adsorbents in the form of three-dimension hydrogels. They are featured by the huge specific surface area and high adsorption efficiency. In addition, the clean and smooth surfaces allow heavy metals to adsorb directly by film dispersion. Without any barrier of mesopores and micropores, the adsorption rate could be well improved. These characteristics would lead to the extremely large adsorption capacity and high adsorption rate. Currently, nano-sheet minerals as adsorbent is a very hot research topic in the field of heavy metal removal. It is expected that nano-sheet minerals will be promising adsorbents in the removal of heavy metals from water.

Seawater has been considered as an alternative to freshwater for flotation. However, many ions in seawater were reported to depress molybdenite (MoS2), with the depressing mechanisms being insufficiently understood. In this study, the influence of divalent ions (e.g., Ca2+ and Mg2+) and dispersant on MoS2 flotation was systematically investigated. It was found that the detrimental effects of Ca2+ and Mg2+ on the natural flotability of MoS2 were mainly due to the attachment of formed CaMoO4 precipitates and Mg(OH)2 colloids onto MoS2 surface. However, the addition of sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP) reduced the negative effects. Various measurements, including contact angle, zeta potential, fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and atomic force microscope (AFM), were conducted to understand the influencing mechanisms of divalent ions and the beneficial effects of SHMP on MoS2 flotation. In addition, the Extended Derjguin–Landau–Verwey–Overbeek (EDLVO) theory was applied to investigate the total interaction energy between MoS2 particles and formed colloids, revealing that the reduced attraction force between MoS2 and Mg(OH)2 colloids in the presence of SHMP primarily resulted in the increased MoS2 recovery. In addition, SHMP combined with Mg2+ and Ca2+ to form dissolvable complexes, thereby reducing insoluble Mg2+ and Ca2+ compounds or precipitation. Thus, this study demonstrated for the first time two influencing mechanisms of SHMP in improving MoS2 recovery in the presence of Ca2+ and Mg2+.

Sea water has been used in flotation plants, showing a promising way to save fresh water usage. Previous studies indicated that divalent salts in sea water played negative roles in chalcopyrite flotation, but not much work have been conducted to understand the eliminating mechanisms. This study systematically investigated the effects of divalent cations of Ca2+ and Mg2+ on natural flotability of chalcopyrite in the absence of collectors and frothers. The reduced recovery was mainly due to the adsorption of Mg and Ca hydroxyl complexes and precipitation on chalcopyrite surfaces, giving rise to a less hydrophobic surface. The addition of sodium hexametaphosphate (SHMP), however, significantly improved chalcopyrite recovery. Species calculation, contact angle, zeta potential, FTIR and XPS analyses were conducted to understand the influencing mechanisms of divalent ions and the beneficial effects of SHMP on chalcopyrite recovery. The primary mechanism was that SHMP prevented the adsorption of positively charged Mg and Ca compounds or precipitation with hydrophilic properties such as Mg(OH)2 on chalcopyrite surfaces, confirmed by the Derjguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory. Secondly, SHMP reacted with Mg2+ and Ca2+ to form dissolvable complexes, thereby declining the formation of insoluble Mg2+ and Ca2+ compounds or precipitation.

The vanadium occurrence in stone coal, water leaching, and acid leaching residue was investigated by energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) mapping and point analysis, and the vanadium transitions during roasting-leaching of stone coal were revealed. In the roasting process, vanadium-bearing muscovite is converted to K-Na-feldspar, accompanying the liberation of vanadium. Most liberated vanadium reacts with sodium salt to generate water-soluble sodium vanadate, some reacts with calcite in stone coal to form water-insoluble calcium vanadate, and other liberated vanadium exists as free vanadium oxide. However, for coarse muscovite grains, the reaction of muscovite converted to K-Na-feldspar only occurs at the outer margin of muscovite grains, and the vanadium in the interior of muscovite grains is not liberated. During water leaching, the sodium vanadate is leached out. The calcium vanadate and free vanadium oxide are dissolved out in the process of acid leaching, and the vanadium, presenting in muscovite grains surrounded by K-Na-feldspar, still remains in the acid leaching residue. Two suggestions, including optimization of grinding-classification process and adopting microwave roasting, were proposed for improving vanadium recovery according to the vanadium transition rules.

As the residual flaky graphite ores become miscellaneous and fine, a single treatment technique for the middlings from the flotation process of graphite ore cannot efficiently recover the valuable graphite in the multistage grinding-flotation technology. In the study, the existence form of graphite and relationship of graphite with the associated gangue minerals were estimated by optical microscope analysis. The results indicated that the fine flaky graphite particles embedded with gangue minerals like a honeycomb, making it difficult to be beneficiated using the typical flotation technique. A combination technique of individual process and concentrated returning for the treatment of middlings was used to increase the graphite recovery based on the co-existing relationship between graphite and gangue minerals in the middlings. The graphite recovery of the final concentrate upgraded from 51.81% to 91.14% at a fixed carbon (FC) content of 92.01% by a beneficiation process consisted of once coarse (94.41% passing 74 μm) and rougher, five stages regrinding and six stages cleaning. The proposed treatment technique for middlings is of great significance to increase the recovery of fine flaky graphite.

Mining tailings as a raw material for preparing autoclaved bricks have attracted much attention. The tailings subjected to milling always have the characteristic of fine granularity. However, the proportion of the fine aggregates in autoclaved bricks was very low using the current gradation formula, which impeded the utilization of the tailings. In this work, a novel model of aggregate gradation for autoclaved bricks from tailings has been presented, which was established through the following steps: (1) 91 groups of autoclaved bricks with different aggregate gradations were prepared, with the proportion of the fine aggregates (−0.15 mm) in the range of 40% to 100%; and (2) the particle size distributions of the finest and coarsest aggregates in the high-strength region were fitted to establish the model. The proportion of the fine aggregates calculated by the model could increase significantly compared with that using the current formula. To verify the novel model, autoclaved bricks from iron ore tailings were prepared using the model, with their mechanical and freezing resistance properties meeting the requirement of the highest-strength level. It was observed by SEM that the autoclaved bricks had compact structures with a few small pores owing to the reasonable aggregate gradation.

A suitable grinding fineness and flow-sheet could potentially reduce the mechanical entrainment of gangue minerals in the flotation process of microcrystalline graphite. In this study, the suitable grinding fineness of a commercial graphite ore was estimated by mineralogy analysis and laboratory grind-flotation tests. The target grind size of this ore should be 92% passing 74 μm based on the mineralogical evaluation and the flotation performance. A comparison of a single-stage and a three-stage grinding circuit was conducted. Experimental results demonstrated that the three-stage grinding circuit could effectively improve the separation effect, which was attributed to the reduction of slimes. In the end, a more desirable beneficiation result was obtained with the application of three-stage grinding-flotation process by minimizing gangue entrainment.

To separate one base metal mineral from another by flotation, it is indispensable to identify chemical reagents that specifically interact with the surface metal sites of one mineral or a group of minerals. This work studies the interactions of chelating collectors which offer the best potential for collecting abilities and mineral specificity with a typical refractory oxide mineral (malachite). Zeta potential, adsorption and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) measurements are applied to differentiate the interactions of salicylaldoxime and salicyl hydroxamate on the malachite surface. Salicylaldoxime and salicyl hydroxamate are of molecular structures that resemble each other, but with different bond distances in the ligand atoms which result in their unusual adsorption behavior and collecting ability. Thus, the flotation of malachite behaves differently with the two chelating collectors. This study might provide useful clues for designing novel collectors in base metal oxide flotations.

Hydrometallurgical processing of chalcopyrite is hindered predominantly due to the passivation layers formed on the chalcopyrite surface. However, the effects of impurity cations released from the gangue are not yet well understood. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out to investigate monovalent cations of Na+ and K+ on chalcopyrite (001)-S surface using Materials Studio. The results show that the 3d orbital of Fe and 3p orbital of S predominantly contribute to their activities during chalcopyrite oxidation and dissolution processes. In addition, SO42− is more likely to be adsorbed on one Fe site in the presence of Na+, while it is preferentially adsorbed on two Fe sites in the presence of K+. However, the adsorption of both Na2SO4 and K2SO4 on the chalcopyrite (001)-S surface contributes to the breakage of S–S bonds, indicating that the impurity cations of Na+ and K+ are beneficial to chalcopyrite leaching in a sulfuric environment. The adsorption energy and partial density of states (PDOS) analyses further indicate that the adsorption of Na2SO4 on chalcopyrite (001)-S surface is favored in both -BB (bidentate binuclear ) and -BM (bidentate mononuclear) modes, compared to the adsorption of K2SO4.

The delamination of montmorillonite in water leads to sliming in ore slurry, which is detrimental to mineral flotation and solid/water separation. In this work, the delamination of Na-montmorillonite (Na-MMT) has been restrained by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) or octadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride (1831) through the adsorption on the edge of the mineral. The experimental results have shown that the pretreatment by adding SDS and 1831 could greatly reduce the Stokes size percentage of −1.1 µm particles in the aqueous Na-MMT suspension. From the X-ray diffractometer (XRD) results, the interlayer spacing of the MMT pre-treated by SDS and 1831 is smaller than that of original MMT particles. Adsorption position of SDS and 1831 on MMT surfaces was analyzed by the measurements of adsorption capacity of SDS and 1831, inductively-coupled plasma spectra, and zeta potential before and after the plane surface of MMT was covered with tetraethylenepentaminecopper ([Cu(tetren)]2+). The results indicated that SDS and 1831 are adsorbed on the edge and the whole surface of Na-MMT, respectively. Delamination of MMT could be well restrained by the adsorption of SDS and 1831 on the edges of MMT.