First-principle investigation on mechanism of Ca ion activating flotation of spodumene

• Published in: Rare metals Vol. 33; no. 3; pp. 358 - 362
• Main Authors: Yu, Fu-Shun, Wang, Yu-Hua, Wang, Jin-Ming, Xie, Zhen-Fu, Zhang, Lei
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Springer Berlin Heidelberg Nonferrous Metals Society of China 01.06.2014; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Biomaterials; Ca（OH）2; Chemistry and Materials Science; Density functional theory; Energy; Flotation; Materials Engineering; Materials Science; Mathematical analysis; Metallic Materials; Nanoscale Science and Technology; Physical Chemistry; Precipitation; Silicates; Slaked lime; Spodumene; Surface chemistry; 密度泛函理论; 浮选回收率; 激活机制; 矿物浮选; 第一性原理; 钙离子; 锂辉石; Density functional theory calculation; Spodumene flotation; Activation mechanism; Ca ion
• ISSN: 1001-0521; 1867-7185
• DOI: 10.1007/s12598-014-0304-5

Different hypotheses of the activation mechanisms of metallic ions for silicate minerals flotation were stated in this work. Spodumene and Ca ion were taken to illustrate this issue. Flotation test results and diagram of Ca ion species distribution vs pH show that the dominant hydrolyzed species are Ca（OH）？and Ca（OH）2, which is in correspondence with the maximum flotation recovery of spodumene. Density functional theory（DFT） calculation results reveal further that the precipitation of calcium hydroxide on spodumene surface is the effective process to activate the flotation of spodumene.