A novel sodium trans-2-nonene hydroxamate for the flotation separation of ilmenite and forsterite: Superior collecting and selectivity

Sodium trans-2-nonene hydroxamate (NaTNA), a derivative of hydroxamic acid, was successfully synthesized as an effective collector for the flotation separation of ilmenite and forsterite. Micro-flotation results showed that NaTNA exhibits a superior flotation performance for ilmenite compared to sodium oleate. To elucidate the flotation process, the zeta potential, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were used to analyze the interaction between the reagents and mineral surfaces. The results indicated that NaTNA was strongly adsorbed on the ilmenite (Ti and Fe active sites) surface by chelation but weakly adsorbed on the forsterite surface through electrostatic attraction. Quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation results suggested that a slim NaTNA layer with an adsorption density of 112.50 ng/cm2 was detected on the forsterite surface, whereas a significantly thicker NaTNA layer with an adsorption density of 4415.00 ng/cm2 was detected on ilmenite. Moreover, a molecular dynamics simulation was employed to investigate the adsorption mechanism of NaTNA on ilmenite and forsterite, revealing that the O‐O distance (2.746 Å) in TiO42- sufficiently matched with the O‐O distance (2.723 Å) of NaTNA. This facilitated bond formation between the reagents and ilmenite. Overall, NaTNA is a promising collector for ilmenite flotation, exhibiting excellent collection ability and selectivity.