Water-Soluble Polymer Depressants in Froth Flotation

从矿石中提取金属，需要将矿石中的含金属矿物分离提纯成单个的精矿。目前大多数矿物分离都是通过泡沫浮选来完成的，泡沫浮选是根据矿物的表面疏水性来分离矿物的。疏水矿物像油滴一样浮在水中，而亲水矿物则留在水中。然而，当亲水性矿物的粒度非常小（<~10微米）时，它们可以被夹带到精矿中，降低了分离效率。此外，许多有毒的无机试剂，如氰化钠、重铬酸钾等，被用来将贱金属矿物分离成单个精矿。解决这两个问题的一个潜在有效的解决方案是使用聚合物抑制剂，它具有低毒性或无毒性，还可以增加颗粒尺寸，从而恢复分离效率。

Metal extraction from ores requires that the metal-bearing minerals in the ores be separated and upgraded into individual mineral concentrates. Most of the mineral separation today is done by froth flotation, which separates minerals based on their surface hydrophobicity. Hydrophobic minerals are floated (like oil drops) to a concentrate while hydrophilic minerals stay in water. However, when the particle sizes of the hydrophilic minerals are very small (<~10 micron), they can be carried to the concentrate by entrainment, lowering separation efficiency. Also, many toxic inorganic reagents such as sodium cyanide, potassium dichromate, etc., are used to separate base metal minerals into individual concentrates. A potentially effective solution to counter both problems is to use polymer depressants, which have low or no toxicity and can also increase particle size, thus restore separation efficiency.