Role of sodium oleate in the in-situ pore wetting of porous active carbon by 1H LF-NMR: Implications for porous mineral flotation

The filling of pores by flotation-reagent-contained water plays an important role in porous mineral flotation . This paper studied the role of sodium oleate (NaOL, a commonly used flotation reagent) solution in the in-situ wetting process of pores of porous active carbon using 1 H LF-NMR, FTIR as well as contact angle measurements. The floatability of active carbon particles wetted by NaOL solutions was evaluated by particles-bubble attachment measurements. The pore wetting percentage decreased as the NaOL concentration increased. The variation trend in pore wetting percentage by NaOL solutions was from fast to slow. Increasing the NaOL concentration contributed to achieve a lower pore wetting percentage as well as rate. The NaOL solution with a high concentration significantly improved the hydrophobicity of the sample, which further prevents the pore wetting process.