It is not clear that the surface properties of silicate minerals, such as zeta-potential, flocculation dispersion characteristics and floatability, are influenced by acid pretreatment.
In this paper, the surface property changes of quartz, albite and forsterite which show the typical changes among some silicate minerals with HCl treatment and aging time in the water are investigated.
The results obtained are summarized as follows.
(1) Results of zeta-potential measurement showed that:
a) Quartz-water system could be regarded as a system without specifically adsorbed ions.
b) In albite-water system, the first hydroxy complexes of multivalent cations which are dissolved from the mineral surface could re-adsorb onto the mineral surface.
c) In forsterite-water system, the readsorption of the complexes and changes in the surface structure of the mineral by acid pretreatment could considerably affect the zeta-potential.
(2) Flocculation dispersion characteristics depends dominantly on the absolute value of zeta-potential, that is, on the electrostatic interaction among mineral particles in solution regardless of the causes for the potential generation.
(3) Flotation behavior of quartz and albite with. DAC as a collector could be explained in terms of its electrostatic adsorption on their surfaces. In the case of forsterite, additional factors such as crystallinity and smoothness of mineral surface must be considered. That is, the increasing degree of perfection and homogeneity in surface structure of the mineral by acid pretreatment has a tendency to enhance its floatability.
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