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When we use smartphones, wear jewelry or drive cars every day, we rarely think that these products are inseparable from a special chemical substance - flotation agent. This "separation magician" widely used in mining has actually quietly penetrated into every aspect of our lives.
The extraction of lithium, the core raw material of lithium-ion batteries in smartphones and tablets, depends on flotation agents. Through selective adsorption, flotation agents can separate spodumene from other minerals. Data shows that about 2.5 kilograms of flotation agents are required for purification per ton of lithium battery positive electrode materials. Quartz sand in mobile phone screen glass raw materials also requires flotation agents to remove impurities such as iron and titanium to achieve high transmittance requirements.
Behind the luster of gold and silver jewelry is the key role of flotation agents in the mineral processing link. Gold mines often coexist with pyrite, and the use of xanthate flotation agents can achieve selective enrichment of gold. Environmentally friendly flotation agents such as sodium gold thiomalate that have emerged in recent years can maintain a recovery rate of more than 95% while avoiding the toxicity of traditional cyanide. Even mineral components such as mica and talc in cosmetics need to be purified by flotation to reach cosmetic-grade fineness.
Ceramic sanitary products rely on kaolin purified by flotation agents; the activated carbon raw materials of household water purifiers need to be removed by flotation to remove ash; even the titanium dioxide in wall paint, the raw material ilmenite, cannot be separated without flotation agents. The latest research has found that modified fatty acid flotation agents can increase the recovery rate of ilmenite to 82% while reducing the consumption of reagents by 30%.
Flotation technology is showing its potential in garbage sorting. A Japanese research team used the principle of bubble flotation to develop a biodegradable flotation agent that can separate plastic mixtures, with a sorting efficiency of 90% for PET and PVC. In the field of sewage treatment, composite flotation agents can effectively remove heavy metal ions in wastewater. After a lead-zinc mine adopted a new type of flotation agent, the lead content of wastewater dropped from 8mg/L to below 0.1mg/L.
From ceramic cups for brushing teeth in the morning to LED lamps for lighting at night, flotation agents have built the material foundation of modern life. With the advancement of technology, more environmentally friendly and efficient flotation agents will continue to protect our quality of life and achieve a perfect balance between resource utilization and environmental protection.
