Abstract Frothers are used in mineral flotation to form small bubbles and a froth layer. As surfactants, frothers may also disperse oily collectors and promote their adsorption on mineral surfaces. Following the previous work showing that aliphatic alcohol frothers inhibited the dispersion of dodecane in de-ionised water, but promoted the dispersion in NaCl solution, this study examined the effect of polyglycol-type frothers, including Dowfroth 250 (DF250) and Dowfroth 400 (DF400), on the dispersion of dodecane in de-ionised water and NaCl solution. Dispersion tests, interfacial tension measurements, zeta potential measurements and viscosity measurements show that DF400 and DF250 were able to enhance dodecane dispersion in both de-ionised water and NaCl solution by promoting the formation and stabilisation of dodecane droplets. DF250 dispersed dodecane more than DF400 mainly through producing more stabilised dodecane droplets driven by stronger electrostatic and steric repulsion. Although NaCl inhibited dodecane dispersion in water, synergy occurred between NaCl and DF400/DF250 to facilitate dodecane dispersion.

中文翻译：

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聚乙二醇型起泡剂对油性捕收剂分散体界面特性的影响

摘要 起泡剂用于矿物浮选以形成小气泡和泡沫层。作为表面活性剂，起泡剂还可以分散油性捕收剂并促进它们在矿物表面的吸附。之前的工作表明脂肪醇起泡剂抑制十二烷在去离子水中的分散，但促进了在 NaCl 溶液中的分散，本研究检验了聚乙二醇型起泡剂的影响，包括 Dowfroth 250 (DF250) 和 Dowfroth 400 (DF400) )，关于十二烷在去离子水和 NaCl 溶液中的分散。分散测试、界面张力测量、zeta 电位测量和粘度测量表明，DF400 和 DF250 能够通过促进十二烷液滴的形成和稳定来增强去离子水和 NaCl 溶液中的十二烷分散。DF250 比 DF400 更能分散十二烷，主要是通过在更强的静电和空间排斥的驱动下产生更稳定的十二烷液滴。尽管 NaCl 抑制了十二烷在水中的分散，但 NaCl 和 DF400/DF250 之间发生了协同作用，促进了十二烷的分散。