Froth flotation of ilmenite by using the dendritic surfactant 2-decanoylamino-pentanedioic acid

Abstract

In this work, 2-decanoylamino-pentanedioic acid (DPA), a novel dendritic surfactant, was designed, synthesized, and exploited as a collector for the flotation of ilmenite. The experimental froth flotation results illustrated that DPA had a superior collecting activity, adsorbed better on the ilmenite surface than oleic acid, and could effectively recover ilmenite from titanomagnetite at a pH of approximately 7. DPA’s unique properties, including two hydrophobic groups and three hydrophilic groups, allowed it to coat the ilmenite surface, rendering it a superior collector.