Mineral Processing Reagents, Iron Oxide-Titania Separation Indo-U.S. Collaborative Project

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Description: This project supports a cooperative project by a US scientist, Dr. Brij Moudgil, and Dr. Michael L. Free, a Post doctoral Research Fellow, at the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, at the University of Florida, Gainesville, and Dr. N.C. Chaudhuri and Dr. Pradip, of the Tata Research Development & Design Centre (TRDDC) in Pune, India. The objective of this research is to understand the basic mechanisms involved in selective adsorption of hydroxamate and fatty acid reagents in the iron oxide-titania systems. Physical and surface chemical characterization would involve x-ray, SEM, pore size distribution and electrokinetic measurements. Adsorption, FT-IR and microflotation tests would be conducted to identify the conditions for achieving the desired separation. Selectivity observed would be explained on the basis of conditional stability constants, crystal structure specificity and molecular orbital considerations. It is expected that the fundamental knowledge base generated in this study would be useful in scientific design of reagent schemes for processing of low grade complex ores. Scope: This project allows cooperation of two well known scientists whose capabilities complement each other and who work in institutions with complementary facilities for the proposed research. Dr. Moudgil is the director of the newly established Engineering Research Center for Particle Science and Technology at the University of Florida. He has had extensive list of research publications, including some with Pradip. The collaboration with Dr. Chaudhri is new and is likely to benefit both institutes. This project meets a number of important objectives of the Division of International Programs, especially in bringing in new participants to the international colaboration, and in the international exposure of a new U.S. Post Doctoral Fellow.