It is well known that in the flotation of copper-nickel sulfide ore, pentlandite and serpentine are easy to form hetero-aggregation, which makes it difficult to separate them. Therefore, dispersion operation is indispensable, including chemical and physical dispersion. Chemical dispersion is usually achieved by adding dispersing reagents, which is widely used in mineral flotation, while the study of ultrasonic dispersion in copper-nickel sulfide ores in physical dispersion is less reported. Thus ultrasonic dispersion technology was introduced to weaken the hetero-aggregation and to improve the floatability of pentlandite. Through the implementation of a series of conditional tests of influence factors including ultrasonic site, ultrasonic probe type, ultrasonic time, and ultrasonic power, the optimum ultrasonic dispersion system was demined, and the results showed that the ultrasonic power was the key factor affecting the dispersion of pentlandite-serpentine. Then the dispersion mechanism of ultrasonic was revealed by means of supernatant turbidity measurements, particle-size distribution (PSD) analyses, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscope (AFM) in succession. Coupled with supernatant turbidity measurements, PSD analyses and SEM images of flotation concentrates all confirmed that the ultra-fine serpentine particles coating on the coarse pentlandite particles were effectively dispersed. AFM analyses depicted the morphological changes of surface roughness treated by different ultrasonic power, and confirmed that the ultrasonic power of 200 W could increase the surface roughness and floatability of pentlandite but decrease that of serpentine. Thus, the difference in floatability between the two minerals were enlarged so as to achieve efficient separation of the two minerals. The results of this research are helpful to understand clearly the mechanism of ultrasonic dispersion of pentlandite-serpentine, which provides an alternative dispersion technology and exhibits great potential for further study and application.

众所周知，在铜镍硫化矿的浮选中，镍铬铁矿和蛇纹石容易形成杂聚体，难以分离。因此，分散操作是必不可少的，包括化学分散和物理分散。化学分散通常通过添加分散剂来实现，广泛用于矿物浮选，而在铜镍硫化矿中进行物理分散的超声分散研究报道较少。因此引入超声分散技术来减弱异质团聚，提高镍铬铁矿的可浮性。通过对超声部位、超声探头类型、超声时间、超声功率等影响因素的一系列条件试验，确定了最佳超声分散体系，结果表明，超声功率是影响镍铬铁矿-蛇纹石分散的关键因素。然后通过上清液浊度测量、粒度分布(PSD)分析、扫描电子显微镜(SEM)和原子力显微镜(AFM)依次揭示超声波的分散机理。结合上清液浊度测量、浮选精矿的 PSD 分析和 SEM 图像均证实，包覆在粗粒镍铁矿颗粒上的超细蛇纹石颗粒被有效分散。AFM分析描绘了不同超声功率处理后表面粗糙度的形态变化，证实200 W的超声功率可以提高镍铬铁矿的表面粗糙度和可浮性，但会降低蛇纹石的表面粗糙度和可浮性。因此，扩大了两种矿物的可浮性差异，实现了两种矿物的高效分离。本研究结果有助于明确镍黄铁矿-蛇纹石的超声分散机理，为进一步研究和应用提供了一种可替代的分散技术，具有很大的应用潜力。