The oil sands industry has contributed to the Canadian economy for over 50 years. Challenges have arisen, however, due to worldwide concerns regarding the long-term environmental impact of waste by-products generated in the bitumen extraction process from oil sands. Reclaiming legacy tailings and reducing the number of ponds are two of these challenges. This article describes the synthesis and characterization of amylopectin-graft-hydrolyzed-poly(methyl acrylate) copolymers with different graft lengths and densities, and how they can be used to treat oil sands tailings. Flocculation and dewatering results depend strongly on how the hydrophobic amylopectin backbones are combined with the hydrophilic hydrolyzed poly(methyl acrylate) grafts. These hybrid polymers, combining a natural backbone with synthetic grafts, seem to be an attractive alternative to treat oil sands and probably other mineral ore tailings.

中文翻译：

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用于油砂尾矿处理的支链淀粉接枝共聚物

50 多年来，油砂行业为加拿大经济做出了贡献。然而，由于全世界都在关注从油砂中提取沥青过程中产生的废物副产品对环境的长期影响，挑战已经出现。回收遗留尾矿和减少池塘数量是其中两个挑战。本文介绍了支链淀粉的合成和表征-具有不同接枝长度和密度的水解聚（丙烯酸甲酯）共聚物，以及它们如何用于处理油砂尾矿。絮凝和脱水结果很大程度上取决于疏水性支链淀粉骨架与亲水性水解聚（丙烯酸甲酯）接枝物的结合方式。这些混合聚合物结合了天然骨架和合成接枝物，似乎是处理油砂和可能其他矿物尾矿的有吸引力的替代方案。