Study on Flotation Performance and Mechanism of Poly (Sodium 4-Styrenesulfonate) on Activated Quartz.

Phosphate rock is an important non-renewable resource, among which gangue mineral are mainly dolomite and silicate minerals. Previous studies have shown that poly (sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS) as a new dolomite inhibitor plays an important role in direct flotation short-process of magnesium removal. However, quartz is easily activated by metal ions, which is a common problem in flotation, and the effect of PSS on quartz has been ignored in the present study. Therefore, the effect of PSS on the flotation behavior of activated quartz is to be further explored. The effects of activator concentration, collector concentration, inhibitor concentration, pulp pH and other factors on quartz flotation were investigated by single mineral flotation test. The inhibition effect and mechanism of PSS in flotation were investigated by Zeta potential, contact angle analysis, SEM-EDS, FTIR analysis, XPS analysis and other characterization methods. The flotation test results show that PSS can effectively inhibited the flotation of activated quartz in the range of pH = 8-12. When Ca ion concentration is 80 mg/L, PSS concentration is only 50 mg/L or Mg ion concentration is 20 mg/L, PSS concentration is 120 mg/L, the floating rate of quartz drops to below 20%. The contact angle measurement results show that PSS can effectively inhibit the activation of calcium and magnesium ions on quartz. The results of Zeta potential, SEM-EDS, FTIR and XPS analysis show that PSS can be adsorbed on the activated quartz surface in the form of chemisorption, and hinder the adsorption of NaOL on the activated quartz surface, so as to achieve the inhibition of activated quartz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]