Electrophoretic mobility study for heterocoagulation of montmorillonite with fluorite in aqueous solutions

Abstract

In this work, the heterocoagulation of fine montmorillonite (MMT) and fluorite particles in aqueous suspensions was investigated through the measurement of electrophoretic mobility distributions. The experimental results have shown that the heterocoagulation closely correlated to the electrophoretic mobility distribution of the mixed mineral dispersion. If a strong heterocoagulation happened, a single-modal electrophoretic mobility distribution with only one peak could be determined, and the peak located between the peaks of the two individual minerals. Without heterocoagulation, a bimodal electrophoretic mobility distribution with two peaks could be observed, which was consistent with the peaks of the two individual minerals. It is demonstrated that the heterocoagulation of two mineral fines in aqueous suspensions could be predicted by the electrophoretic mobility distribution of the mixed mineral dispersion.