Minerals Ilmenite Research Articles

Multiphysics simulation and optimization of the in-situ beneficiation process of ilmenite minerals from lunar regolith

Multiphysics simulation and optimization of the in-situ beneficiation process of ilmenite minerals from lunar regolith

Unrefined and Milled Ilmenite as a Cost-Effective Photocatalyst for UV-Assisted Destruction and Mineralization of PFAS.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are fluorinated and refractory pollutants that are ubiquitous in industrial wastewater. Photocatalytic destruction of such pollutants with catalysts such as TiO2 and ZnO is an attractive avenue for removal of PFAS, but refined forms of such photocatalysts are expensive. This study, for the first time, utilized milled unrefined raw mineral ilmenite, coupled to UV-C irradiation to achieve mineralization of the two model PFAS compounds perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) and perfluoro octane sulfonic acid (PFOS). Results obtained using a bench-scale photocatalytic reactor system demonstrated rapid removal kinetics of PFAS compounds (>90% removal in less than 10 h) in environmentally-relevant concentrations (200-1000 ppb). Raw ilmenite was reused over three consecutive degradation cycles of PFAS, retaining >80% removal efficiency. Analysis of degradation products indicated defluorination and the presence of shorter-chain PFAS intermediates in the initial samples. End samples indicated the disappearance of short-chain PFAS intermediates and further accumulation of fluoride ions, suggesting that original PFAS compounds underwent mineralization due to an oxygen-radical-based photocatalytic destruction mechanism induced by TiO2 present in ilmenite and UV irradiation. The outcome of this study implies that raw ilmenite coupled to UV-C is suitable for cost-effective reactor operation and efficient photocatalytic destruction of PFAS compounds.

UV-A assisted catalytic wet peroxide oxidation: Activity of iron minerals in the degradation of DEET

The widespread use of insect repellent N,N’-diethyltoluamide (DEET), along with its low biodegradability, has made this an ubiquitous contaminant in waterbodies. This work explores the elimination of DEET (10 mg/L) in aqueous matrices employing natural iron minerals ilmenite (FeTiO3), hematite (Fe2O3), goethite (Fe(OOH)) and magnetite (Fe3O4) as low-cost catalysts in UV-assisted Catalytic Wet Peroxide Oxidation, using UV-A LEDs (λ: 395 nm) as radiation source in a 500 mL useful-volume reactor. Under the studied conditions, magnetite presented a higher activity, significantly superior to that of the other minerals. A parametric study evaluating the effect of the catalyst load, initial pH, H2O2 dose, UV irradiance and water matrix was performed. Magnetite is able to carry out DEET degradation working at circumneutral pH (pH: 5) with outstanding results in terms of DEET removal even in complex matrices such as river water and WWTP effluent. Furthermore, the catalyst presented an excellent stability. Still, under the optimal operating conditions of this study ([Fe3O4]: 500 mg/L, [H2O2]0: 61.1 mg/L, pH0: 5, T: 25ºC, t: 120 min), only 27.8% mineralization was reached in ultrapure water. Nonetheless, the remaining organic compounds are mainly short-chain organic acids (malonic, oxalic, acetic and formic acids), which account for 98.7% of the residual organic carbon. These compounds, which are readily biodegradable, present a lower phytotoxicity than that of DEET, demonstrating the potential of UV-CWPO for the elimination of this emerging contaminant.

Geochemistry, Petrology and Tectonic Settings of Dolerite Dykes of Ranipet District, Northern part of Southern Granulite Terrain, Tamil Nadu, India


 
 
 The dolerite dykes and their associated rock are collected from the Ranipet district which is located in the northern part of the Southern Granulite Terrain and South of the Dharwar craton. The major dyke in the Ranipet district shows WSW-ENE trending dykes intruded the hornblende-biotite gneiss with gabbroic diorite and granite gneiss. The dolerite in this region shows typical dolerite composition with high alteration like chloritization and sericitization. Mineralogically, the rock shows laths of plagioclase, anhedral to euhedral clinopyroxene with basal cleavage, and quartz minerals. The opaque minerals ilmenite and magnetite crystals interstice the major minerals and it has altered boundaries. Texturally, the rock shows subophitic and intermediate gabbroic texture (granular texture). TAS diagram shows that the dykes plot in the basalt, basalt andesitic, and rhyolitic field (highly sericitized dolerite). The host and other associated rocks plot within the sub-alkaline field. The bivariate plot for the studied dolerite shows a positive correlation with SiO2, CaO, Na2O, K2O, and P2O5 and a negative correlation with TiO2, Fe2O, and Al2O3. The AFM and Jensen plots show that the dolerites samples plot in the tholeiitic field with Fe enrichment and a High Fe tholeiitic character respectively. The primitive mantle diagram shows the depletion of Nb, P, and Ti showing possible interaction of crust during the emplacement. The Chondrite normalized plot for the dolerite shows enrichment of LREE and Slight depletion of HREEs indicates OIB character. Tectonically, the dolerites formed emplaced in the continental and alkaline arc OIB settings with E-MORB affinity.
 
 

Structural and electrochemical properties of LiFePO4 cathode synthesized by solid-state reaction using FeC2O4.2H2O precursor from local Indonesian ilmenite mineral

Structural and electrochemical properties of LiFePO4 cathode synthesized by solid-state reaction using FeC2O4.2H2O precursor from local Indonesian ilmenite mineral

Separation of TiO2 and Fe2O3 from Indonesia Ilmenite Minerals and their Application as Photocatalysts for Eriochrome Black‐T Dye Degradation

AbstractAnatase‐TiO2 and α‐Fe2O3 were successfully separated from Indonesia ilmenite minerals using a modification of the hydrometallurgy process. Sodium salt was used as an initiated roasting before hydrochloric leaching. The study investigated parameters that affect separation such as mass ratios of sodium salt to ilmenite and leaching temperature. The results revealed that Ti composition in residue‐TiO2 increased to 76 % while Fe‐composition in filtrate‐Fe2O3 was 87 %. The XRD diffractogram analysis confirmed that main phase formed in residue of separation was anatase‐TiO2 whereas in hydrolysed of filtrate from separation was hematite. Both residue‐TiO2 and filtrate Fe2O3 had high thermal stability. The photocatalytic activity of anatase‐TiO2 and α‐Fe2O3 showed about 97 % and 85 % of Eriochrome Black‐T dye solution was degraded, respectively, when conducted to 4 hours of UV light irradiation. Photocatalytic kinetics study of anatase‐TiO2 and α‐Fe2O3 in degradation process followed pseudo‐first order with reaction rate at 0.0144 and 0.0070 min−1, respectively.

Optimized Ilmenite Leachate by Wet Mechanical Activation for the Synthesis of TiO<sub>2</sub> Nanoparticles through Sulfate Route

The extraction of ilmenite minerals using the sulfate route is one of the commercial methods for producing titanium dioxide (TiO2) materials. The sulfate process requires a high concentration of sulfuric acid to achieve high extraction yield of titanium. However, this process also results in the generation of high amounts of sulfuric acid waste. Modifying ilmenite minerals is thought to be one of approaches in reducing the consumption of highly concentrated sulfuric acid. In the current study, we investigated the effect of the ilmenite-to-water mass ratio (ITWR) on the wet-ball milling process to enhance the dissolution of titanium from the ilmenite mineral. The results revealed that increasing the water amount from 10 to 70% wt has decreased the particle size from 167.60 to 0.55 μm and increased the titanium yield from 479.36 to 1228.89 ppm. On the basis of investigation, it was shown there is a significant relationship between the ilmenite-to-water mass ratio and titanium dissolution, highlighting the importance of an optimal ratio for achieving maximum dissolving yield. The obtained TiO2 nanoparticles provide the average crystallite size of 4.16 nm, with rutile and anatase phase, and spherical morphology.

Amorphization of natural ilmenite for production of a potential porous adsorbent towards crystal violet dye removal from aqueous environment

In this work, amorphization of ilmenite mineral was obtained by solid NaOH alkaline fusion at 550 oC. The material was tested as an adsorbent towards crystal violet (CV) removal from an aqueous matrix. Several techniques, such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), and N2 adsorption/desorption isotherms (BET) were used to characterize the material, and revealed an amorphous structure with superior surface area (88.84 m² g-1) compared to raw sample (5.90 m² g-1). These intrinsic characteristics resulted in a satisfactory adsorption capacity, reaching 133 mg g-1 at a temperature of 328 K. Kinetic studies on the adsorption process indicated that the equilibrium condition was reached within 50 min, being well represented by the Avrami model. The thermodynamic study revealed that the CV adsorption onto ilmenite is spontaneous, endothermic, and favorable. The amorphized material maintains the same adsorptive performance after three reuse cycles. Therefore, the amorphization route proposed in this work was satisfactory for producing a porous adsorbent from the ilmenite mineral, with potential use for wastewater treatment.

Synthesis of Titanate Nanosheets from Indigenous Indonesian Ilmenite Minerals

Titanate nanosheets are a type of 2-dimensional nanomaterial with vast applications in electronics, energy storage, and photocatalysis due to their superior properties, such as their large specific surface area and excellent electrical conductivity. Titanate nanosheets are expected to be the material precursor of TiO2 nanostructures with further treatment. The current research aims to synthesize titanate nanosheets using the natural mineral ilmenite from Indonesia through the hydrothermal method. X-ray fluorescence (XRF), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Brunaeur-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis were used to characterize the chemical composition, crystal structure, shape, size, and specific surface area of the prepared samples. The structure phase of the as-synthesized sample is known to be layered titanate. The as-synthesized nanosheet sample has a diameter ranging from 2.5 to 4 μm and BET surface areas of approximately 40 m2/g. This concise hydrothermal method could create 2-dimensional structured nanomaterials from Indonesian local minerals.

A new appraisal of ilmenite U–Pb dating method by LA-SF-ICP-MS

Zircon has a similar U–Pb fractionation and average normalized Pb/U ratio with ilmenite; our direct calibration method using zircon 91500 as an external standard is effective for in situ U–Pb dating of ilmenite under wide ablation settings.

SIMPLE SEPARATION OF Ti(SO4)2 AND FeSO4 FROM H2SO4- FeSO4-Ti(SO4)2-H2O SYSTEM BASED ON SOLUBILITY PROPERTIES IN METHYL ALCOHOL

SIMPLE SEPARATION OF Ti(SO4)2 AND FeSO4 FROM H2SO4- FeSO4-Ti(SO4)2-H2O SYSTEM BASED ON SOLUBILITY PROPERTIES IN METHYL ALCOHOL

Elemental Analysis and Physical Studies of Magnetic Black Sand (Ilmenite, Ore of Titanium) Found at Lonar Crater, Maharashtra, India

Representative soil samples from Lonar Crater Lake periphery were investigated to study its nature. Experiments conducted on the soil found that it contains highly different salts prominently being sodium chloride, carbonates and bicarbonates of sodium with silica and magnetic black sand. Due to the presence of magnetic black sand along with silica, it has attained grey white or white black colour to the soil. The authors were interested to find out what is this magnetic black sand in sense of its source and origin? It’s Physical and chemical properties? And why it existed near Lonar Crater Lake periphery? Experiments conducted for the last 6 years showed that it possesses magnetic attractive property. XRF analysis carried out showed that predominant elemental oxides are Fe₂O₃ and TiO₂. For comparison basaltic rocks have been considered because though this magnetic black sand is associated with basaltic rocks yet, there is a major difference in their physical and chemical properties, but their source and origin is the same i.e., from volcanic eruption. From the studies conducted, the authors came to the conclusion that the Lonar magnetic black sand under study is the ore of Titanium and iron called as Ilmenite. This mineral Ilmenite was discovered in 1791 by William Gregor. This is the first hand information reported through this paper about findings of Ilmenite, (ore of Titanium) along with Magnetite (ore of iron) and similar species in the soil of Lonar Crater Lake periphery. Since Lonar magnetic black sand words will be used frequently, it will be termed in short as L.M.B.S. (Lonar magnetic black sand). A preliminary investigation was carried out to search what is this component on prima facia basis.

Preparation of synthetic rutile from Rosetta ilmenite concentrate

The hydrometallurgical procedure is suggested in this work to upgrade the ilmenite mineral which is separated from black sand at Rosetta, Egypt, to obtain high TiO2. The ilmenite concentrate is subjected to a digestion process using sulfuric acid solution in the presence of date molasses. Date molasses is chosen as new, cheap, eco-friendly and effective reductant. The relevant factors for titanium and iron dissolution from ilmenite concentrate include: the acid concentration, sample/acid ratio, reaction time, temperature in addition reductant percentage. These factors are studied and optimized. The optimum conditions are realized at 10 M H2SO4 acid with a solid/liquid ratio of 1/10 at 120 °C for 2 h in the presence of a definite amount of date molasses. Under these conditions, titanium and iron leaching efficiencies are attained at 98.4% and 92.8%, respectively. The resultant leach liquor is then subjected to a hydrolysis step for titanium separation as Ti(OH)2, dried at 110 °C and ignited at 850 °C to obtain high-grade titanium oxide (93.5%) TiO2.

Development of manganese-iron mixed oxides reinforced with titanium and prepared from minerals for their use as oxygen carriers

Chemical Looping Combustion (CLC) allows CO2 capture at low cost. This technology is based on solid oxygen carriers which supply the oxygen required for combustion of the fuel while they experience successive reduction-oxidation cycles. Oxygen carriers based on minerals or industrial residues present the advantage of their low cost but complete combustion of the fuel is not always achieved. Manganese‑iron mixed oxides doped with titanium can improve combustion efficiency due to its oxygen uncoupling capability. Moreover, they present the advantage of their magnetic properties. The objective of this work was to produce this type of oxygen carriers from minerals/residues instead of from synthetic materials. Four oxygen carriers with a fixed Mn-Fe molar ratio were produced with a 7 wt.% TiO2 addition. Two manganese-based (MnSA and MnGBMPB) and one iron-based (Tierga) minerals were used as source of Mn and Fe, respectively. As source of Ti, the mineral ilmenite was used. After characterization of the materials, their reactivity was analysed in a TGA. The reactivity to the main combustion gasses was lower than that corresponding to similar oxygen carriers obtained from synthetic sources although they maintained their magnetic properties. Thus, its use as magnetic support of oxygen carriers was recommended. In this respect, first tests were conducted using CuO as active phase supported on one of the low-cost support materials produced in this work.

Extreme Sn isotope fractionation in highly evolved granites

Stable Sn isotopes have been widely used to trace the planetary differentiation processes, the provenance and trade paths of ancient bronze artifacts, the mineralization history of tin ore deposits, and the terrestrial magmatic processes. However, systematic Sn isotope studies of felsic igneous rocks especially the Sn mineralization-related highly evolved granites are still lacking. In this study, we present the first high-precision Sn isotope data of two Sn-rich highly evolved S-type granites (Laochang and Kafang) from the world-class Gejiu Sn ore district. These granite samples show remarkably variable δ122/118Sn values (relative to the Sn standard solution NIST 3161a) ranging from 0.11 ± 0.02‰ to 0.93 ± 0.02‰ (2σ), which is the largest variation range reported in granites so far. The absence of correlations between Sn isotopes and LOI (loss-on-ignition) and εNd(t) values, along with the low magmatic oxygen fugacity (△FMQ < 0) for these granites, rule out hydrothermal alteration, wall-rock assimilation, source composition heterogeneity, and anatexis processes as causes of the Sn isotope fractionation. The Laochang granites show negative correlations between δ122/118Sn values and magmatic differentiation indicators (e.g., CaO, Fe2O3, Ti, Eu/Eu*, F/Cl), suggesting fractional crystallization increased the δ122/118Sn isotopes in the residual melts. The fractional crystallized minerals are mainly composed of biotite, plagioclase, and minor ilmenite. Compared with the Laochang granites, the Kafang granites show higher SiO2 contents, F/Cl ratios, and δ122/118Sn values, suggesting the magma at this stage was fluid-saturated and fluid exsolution coupled with fractional crystallization would further enrich the heavy Sn isotopes in the residual melts. We further quantified the contributions of crystal fractionation and fluid exsolution on Sn isotopic variability using a Rayleigh fractionation model. The modeling indicates that △122/118Sncrystal-melt = −0.6 to −0.5‰ and △122/118Snfluid-melt = −1.9 to −0.7‰ with an initial H2O content of 2 wt.% can explain the observed δ122/118Sn values of Gejiu granites. This study implies that both crystal fractionation and fluid exsolution processes cause increase of Sn isotopic values in the highly evolved granites and Sn isotopes are useful for tracing the evolution of highly differentiated igneous rocks.

Exploring heterogenous TiO2 nanocrystals from natural ilmenite mineral extraction for energy application

The semiconductor oxide material titanium dioxide (TiO2) has a number of strategic uses, such as an antimicrobial, self-cleaning, photocatalyst, and dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC). Despite the fact that his substance is naturally obtained from the ilmenite (FeTiO3) mineral, there have been few investigations in this field. This work produced heterogenous TiO2 nanocrystals from ilmenite extraction, which were then subjected to post-hydrothermal treatment at a range of temperatures of 80, 100, 120, and 150 °C. In the present study, it was examined how temperature change affected the optical characteristics, crystal structure, and prospective integration of TiO2 nanocrystals into DSSC. The obtained TiO2 nanocrystals were identified as anatase phase by the X-ray diffraction analysis. As a result of raising the post-hydrothermal temperature from 80 to 150 °C, the crystallite size of heterogenous TiO2 nanocrystals was successfully enhanced from 58.09 to 72.48 nm. The band gap energy (Eg) may be lowered from 2.81 to 2.65 eV by increasing the size of the crystallites. The greatest open circuit voltage (Voc) measured by the voltage test findings was 16.80 mV. According to the study's findings, heterogenous TiO2 nanocrystals synthesized from the ilmenite mineral might be used in dye-sensitized solar cell applications.

Origins of magmatism in the Okinawa Trough: Fe–Sr–Nd–Pb–Hf isotopic constraints

ABSTRACT The Okinawa Trough is an incipient back-arc basin formed by the subduction of the Philippine Sea Plate beneath the Eurasian Plate and is a natural laboratory for studying basin evolution, magmatism, and crust-mantle interactions during the early stages of back-arc spreading. Back-arc spreading and recent magmatism are occurring mainly in the Middle Okinawa Trough (MOT) and Southern Okinawa Trough (SOT). In order to investigate the magmatism in the Okinawa Trough, volcanic rock samples from the MOT and SOT were analysed for Fe – Sr – Nd – Pb – Hf isotopic compositions. The Fe isotopic compositions of basaltic andesite samples from the SOT are similar to or lower than MORBs. The fluid/melt derived from the subducted slab, especially the fluid dehydrated from slab serpentinites and sediment-derived melts, entered the overlying depleted mantle wedge and participated in magma generation, which resulted in the low δ56Fe values of the SOT basaltic magmas. The δ56Fe values of volcanic rocks from the MOT increase with increasing SiO2 contents, suggesting a gradual enrichment of heavy Fe isotopes during the evolution of the magma as it ascended to the surface. While the Sr – Nd – Pb – Hf isotopic compositions do not vary significantly, suggesting that the different samples are the products of different degrees of crystal fractionation of comagma. The fractional crystallization of olivine, pyroxene, and ilmenite minerals, which enrich in light Fe isotopes, resulted in the gradual increase in Fe isotopic values of magma during its evolution. The dacites and rhyolites from the southernmost Okinawa Trough have the similar δ56Fe values with the basaltic andesite and the basalt from the SOT and MOT, accompanied by significantly lower Nd and Hf isotope ratios relative to basalts, reflecting that the contamination of crustal materials would not change the magma in Fe isotope compositions evidently. Compared with the MOT, the volcanic rocks from the SOT was more affected by subduction components on their underlying mantle, and those from the southernmost experienced more contamination by crustal materials in the evolving magma.

Solar-driven CO2 reduction using modified earth-abundant ilmenite catalysts

Photocatalytic CO2 reduction is an alternative technology to the depletion of highly pollutant fossil fuels through the generation of renewable solar-based fuels. This technology requires that the photocatalysts be obtained directly from nature to scale up the process. Taking that into consideration, this work proposed the fabrication of sodium iron titanate (NaFeTiO4) photocatalysts from earth-abundant ilmenite mineral. The photocatalysts exhibited full spectrum light response, good electron transfer due to its unique tunnel structure that favored the formation of rod-like morphology. These properties promoted the solar-driven CO2 reduction to generate formic acid (HCOOH) with high selectivity (157 μmol g−1 h−1). It was found that higher synthesis temperatures promoted the formation of Fe3+ species, which decreased the efficiency for CO2 reduction. Also, the possibility of reduced the CO2 molecules in the air was studied with the NaFeTiO4 samples, which resulted in an efficiency of up to 93 μmol g−1 h−1 of HCOOH under visible light. The stability of the solar-driven CO2 reduction with the NaFeTiO4 photocatalysts was confirmed after seven days of continuous evaluation.

Induced roll magnetic separator applied for high grade ilmenite separation from mining tailing

This article aimed to separate ilmenite (FeTiO3) mineral from tin tailing applying a single splitter IRMS (Induced Roll Magnetic Separator). Ilmenite mineral is the substantial main source for TiO2. This work used air table middling for feeding. The mineral components of middling feeding from air table using grain counting analysis were found as follows: cassiterite (48.61%), ilmenite (21.36%), monazite (18.56%), pyrite (4.60%), zircon (5.85%), quartz (0.71%), anatase (0.27%), and tourmaline (0.02%), It was found that electrical current and opening of single splitter affected the degree of separation addressing to ilmenite recovery and ilmenite grade. The finding showed that current of 15 Ampere and single splitter with opening 4.25 cm yielded ilmenite recovery more than 74%. The high grade ilmenite (90.46 %) and recovery of 29.38% was obtained using 5 Ampere with single splitter opening of 1.0 cm. Up to date, the study on ilmenite separation from tailing only focused on the effect of current, however, the effect of single splitter magnetic separator to enhance ilmenite recovery from other paramagnetic minerals such as monazite, siderite, xenotime and tourmaline has not yet been reported.

Tribological characteristics of LM13 alloy based ilmenite-boron carbide reinforced hybrid composites for brake drum applications

Aluminium matrix hybrid composites reinforced with a combination of naturally occurring ilmenite mineral particles (FeTiO3) and synthetically processed boron carbide ceramic particles (B4C) were processed using stir casting route. Reinforcement loading was varied between 0 and 15 wt. percentage (wt.%). For each loading, the two type of fillers were mixed in three wt.% ratio of 1:3, 1:1, and 3:1. Particle size range for both fillers was 106–125 μm. Operating temperature, applied load, and sliding distance were in the range of 25–300 °C, 9.8−49.0 N, and 0−3000 m respectively. Optical and scanning electron micrographs showed nearly uniform distribution of reinforced particles in the matrix. Grain size reduction and morphological changes in the constituent phases of matrix material were noted. Pin-on-disc wear set-up was used to evaluate the wear behaviour of composites (ASTM G99 standard). With increase in operating temperature, the wear rate increased. A sharp rise in wear rate was observed beyond 200 °C. 15HA-31 composite (loading: 15 wt.%; B4C to Ilmenite weight ratio: 3:1) showed maximum improvement in wear rate at all the operating temperatures exhibiting 52−71% reduction in maximum wear rate over the reference sample. Ilmenite particles reduced the coefficient of friction, promoted strong interfacial bonding, and caused early oxidation of sliding surface. On the other hand, B4C particles increased the stability of tribolayer, caused grain refinement, and resulted in morphological changes from acicular to globular for the constituent phases of matrix. Wear rate behaviour of 15HA-31 composite was comparable to the commercially used brake drum material.