Issue 6, 2022, Issue in Progress

Surface interaction between phyllosilicate particles and sustainable polymers in flotation and flocculation

Abstract

Non-renewable chemical reagents are commonly used as dispersants or flocculants of phyllosilicate clay particles in several industrial fields such as water/wastewater treatment, food production, papermaking, and mineral processing. However, environmentally benign reagents are highly desired due to the non-biodegradability and negative impacts of synthetic reagents on aquatic life. In this work, the dispersion and flocculation behavior of sustainable polymers (anionic and cationic biopolymers) sourced from proteins and polysaccharides were studied in serpentine phyllosilicate suspensions using the following bench-scale tests: zeta potential, microflotation, settling and turbidity, and isotherm adsorption using total organic carbon. The anionic polysaccharide-based biopolymer pectin acted as a switchable biopolymer for serpentine. That is, it could switch from being an efficient flocculant at pH 7 to an effective dispersant at pH 10.

Graphical abstract: Surface interaction between phyllosilicate particles and sustainable polymers in flotation and flocculation

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
27 Oct 2021
Accepted
13 Jan 2022
First published
28 Jan 2022
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

RSC Adv., 2022,12, 3708-3715

Surface interaction between phyllosilicate particles and sustainable polymers in flotation and flocculation

N. Molaei, M. Shoaib, J. Forster, S. Khan, O. B. Wani and E. R. Bobicki, RSC Adv., 2022, 12, 3708 DOI: 10.1039/D1RA07928J

This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported Licence. You can use material from this article in other publications without requesting further permissions from the RSC, provided that the correct acknowledgement is given.

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