Enhancing flotation separation of spodumene from feldspar using sodium N-oleoyl-L-alaninate

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-1-2025

Department

Department of Chemical Engineering

Abstract

Sodium oleate (NaOL), as a traditional collector for spodumene, shows suboptimal flotation performance in industrial applications. To overcome this limitation, in this study sodium N-oleoyl-L-alaninate (SNOA) was first introduced as an innovative and more efficient collector for spodumene flotation. Flotation experiments revealed that SNOA possessed stronger collecting ability and superior selectivity in comparison to NaOL. Advanced analytical techniques such as AFM, Zeta potential, FTIR, and XPS indicated that NOA−, the active component of SNOA, was efficiently adsorbed on the spodumene surface activated by Ca2+, forming dense multilayers via robust electrostatic and chemical interactions. In comparison, NOA− exhibited limited adsorption on the feldspar surface activated by Ca2+, resulting in minimal monolayer formation through weak interactions. DFT calculations demonstrated that the adsorption energy of NOA−, which contains amide and carboxyl groups, on activated spodumene was significantly higher compared to its adsorption on activated feldspar. This is attributed to the stronger ionic interactions formed between the functional groups of NOA− and the active sites (Al and Ca) of activated spodumene surface. Therefore, SNOA was proven to be a high-efficiency collector for spodumene, demonstrating substantial potential for future industrial applications.

Publication Title

Minerals Engineering

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