According to the , quoting from the University of Tehran, the researchers of the University of Tehran conducted a research under the supervision of Dr. Mehdi Qarabaghi, with the cooperation of Dr. Hadi Abdolahi, professors of the Faculty of Mining Engineering of Technical Colleges and Ali Rahmani, a doctoral student in the field of mineral processing at the University of Tehran, a kind of Natural nanoparticles with inherent hydrophobic properties have been introduced for use in mineral processing industry, especially biocompatible flotation processes. These natural nanoparticles can be used as a unique alternative to surfactant chemicals used in the mineral processing industry.
About the steps of flotation of minerals and the importance of using modern nano-collectors in increasing the efficiency and reducing the environmental risks of this method, Dr. Qarabaghi said: Flotation is the most important method of mineral processing. This method is a physico-chemical separation process and the only processing method that simultaneously uses three phases: solid, liquid and gas. Every year, more than one billion tons of minerals are concentrated in this way all over the world.
The Associate Professor of the Department of Mineral Processing, Faculty of Mining Engineering, University of Tehran said about environmentally friendly nano-collectors: by crushing hydrophobic particles to nanometer dimensions under controlled conditions, they can be used as a collector (surfacer) in flotation. Thus, in addition to conventional chemical surfactants and some gas collectors, hydrophobic nanoparticles will be used as natural and innovative solid collectors in the flotation process in the coming years.
A faculty member of the Faculty of Mining Engineering said: In this research, the possibility of using a new group of nanoscale surfacers with greater efficiency and less destructive effect on the environment has been investigated. Previously, the use of nanoparticles was often reported for synthetic and unnatural materials in a limited way, but in this research, for the first time, this new group of nanosurfactants has been used for the flotation of natural minerals. Considering the direct relationship between flotation recovery and the amount of valuable mineral surface coverage by nanoparticles, in this study, the effect of nanoparticle concentration parameters, preparation time, preparation methods, flotation time, and nanoparticle size on the amount of valuable mineral coverage by nanoparticles was investigated.
He said about the findings of this research: The results of the tests showed that the reduction of recovery in mineral processing processes due to the loss of valuable mineral particles in soft form and transfer to waste dams is one of the deep-rooted and important issues in this industry. However, the use of nano-collectors expands the dimensional range of conventional flotation to smaller sizes. The use of hydrophobic nanoparticles at the optimal level, the balance between the presence of hydrophobic nanoparticles in the flotation environment and the uniform, sufficient and single-layer surface coverage of nanoparticles on the surface of the valuable mineral, creates optimal process conditions and achieves the maximum recovery of the valuable mineral.
Dr. Qarabaghi explained the effect of natural hydrophobic nanoparticles in the flotation environment as follows: the presence of natural hydrophobic nanoparticles in the flotation environment plays two main roles: first, as a surface-forming agent (precious mineral-hydrophobic nanoparticles-bubble), they cause the valuable mineral to be removed from the external environment and transferred to the concentrate part; Another thing is that they strengthen the attachment of valuable mineral particles to the bubble, during the particle transfer path to the foam zone, so that hydrophobic nanoparticles are present in the entire pulp in a suspended form and do not leave the operating environment after the valuable mineral floats. This makes the bubble-particle connection stable over a longer period of time and consequently increases the recovery of the valuable mineral. Also, due to the remaining part of hydrophobic nanoparticles in the environment, their actual consumption on an industrial and stable scale is much less.
The results of this research have recently been published in an article titled Investigation of calcite flotation by green natural hydrophobic talc nanoparticles as collectors, and the adverse influence of nanoparticle aggregates by Elsevier in the Journal of Cleaner Production with an impact factor (IF) of 9.8. Available at this link.
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