Abstract There has been perception that flotation frothers, a type of surfactants, can disperse oily collectors in water, promoting oil attachment on mineral particles. In this study, the effect of aliphatic alcohol frothers (including MIBC, 1-hexanol and diacetone) on the dispersion of dodecane in de-ionised water and NaCl solution was studied. It turned out that these frothers actually inhibited the dispersion of dodecane in de-ionised water, but promoted the dispersion in NaCl solution. The underpinning mechanism was then investigated to decouple the effect of these frothers on the subprocesses of dodecane dispersion, emulsion formation controlled by the interfacial tension between oil and water, and emulsion stabilisation controlled by zeta potential and rheology of oil droplets. It was found that these frothers could decrease the interfacial tension of dodecane/water interface to facilitate the formation of dodecane droplets in water, but they were unable to form stable protective coatings around dodecane droplets in de-ionised water, resulting in the coalescence of dodecane droplets. In NaCl solution, the presence of Na+ can improve the strength of protective coatings formed by frother molecules around dodecane droplets and therefore the stability of dodecane emulsion.

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脂肪醇起泡剂对油性捕收剂分散的影响

摘要 人们认为浮选起泡剂是一种表面活性剂，可以将油性捕收剂分散在水中，促进矿物颗粒上的油附着。在本研究中，研究了脂肪醇起泡剂（包括 MIBC、1-己醇和双丙酮）对十二烷在去离子水和 NaCl 溶液中的分散的影响。结果表明，这些起泡剂实际上抑制了十二烷在去离子水中的分散，但促进了在 NaCl 溶液中的分散。然后研究了基础机制，以消除这些起泡剂对十二烷分散、由油和水之间的界面张力控制的乳液形成以及由 zeta 电位和油滴流变学控制的乳液稳定等子过程的影响。结果发现，这些起泡剂可以降低十二烷/水界面的界面张力，以促进水中十二烷液滴的形成，但它们无法在去离子水中的十二烷液滴周围形成稳定的保护涂层，导致十二烷的聚结飞沫。在NaCl溶液中，Na+的存在可以提高十二烷液滴周围起泡分子形成的保护涂层的强度，从而提高十二烷乳液的稳定性。