Selective depression action of taurine in flotation separation of specularite and chlorite

Chlorite, as the most representative gangue mineral associated with specularite, of which the separation of these two minerals is difficult. This paper investigated the depression effect of taurine on specularite/chlorite separation via flotation experiments, adsorption tests, contact angle measurements, Zeta potential detection, FT-IR measurements, and XPS analyses. The results of single mineral flotation indicated that chlorite could be depressed selectively by taurine with the recovery of less than 30%, but the floatability of specularite remains high with recovery rate of 81.77% at pH 10. The artificial mixed mineral flotation results confirmed the effectiveness of taurine as a depressant. Surface adsorption, contact angle, and Zeta potential detection revealed taurine primarily adsorbs on the chlorite surface, which hampered the DDA’s subsequent adsorption and results in the chlorite’s poor floatability. The FT-IR spectra and XPS analyses provided further proof that taurine adsorbed on chlorite surface as an electron donor, and part of the electrons transferred from the sulfonic acid group of taurine to metal ions during the adsorption process. In addition, the hydrogen bond between amino-group of taurine and O ions in chlorite surface was also formed in the adsorption process. Finally, optimized adsorption configurations of taurine on chlorite surfaces were proposed.