Synergetic Effect of the Mixed Anionic/Non-Ionic Collectors in Low Temperature Flotation of Scheelite

Abstract

The synergetic effect of four octaphenyl polyoxyethyienes (TX) on low temperature flotation of scheelite at 9–11 °C was investigated through flotation experiments, and the adsorption mechanism was studied by way of surface tension, zeta potential, and adsorption measurement. The results show that the presence of the four octaphenyl polyoxyethyienes can improve scheelite flotation in a low concentration range, and their synergetic effects increase with the increase of the oxyethyl group (EO) number in their molecular structure, the mixed sodium oleate/TX-15 collector exhibits the best collecting performance for scheelite. Compared with sodium oleate alone, a larger reduced value of zeta potential is seen in the presence of the mixed collectors, and the adsorption of sodium oleate on the scheelite surface is enhanced for a constant sodium oleate concentration. Moreover, the synergetic effect of TX-15 can be well demonstrated through surface tension measurement, a lower critical micelle concentration (CMC) value of the mixed sodium oleate/TX-15 surfactant is obtained, indicating a higher surface property. Therefore, the mixed sodium oleate/TX-15 collector is suitable for low temperature flotation of scheelite.