Evolution of ideas towards the implementation of nanoparticles as flotation reagents

The paper discusses an idea of nanoparticles application to the flotation process. Due to the growing awareness of the environmental impact of industry and legal restrictions, the directions of research on new chemicals used in mineral processing, as well as in the other branches of industry are changing. The flotation reagents of the future should be, or are expected to be, readily biodegradable, but also their products should be harmless to the environment. A review of the works presented here presents an overview of the state-of-the-art application of nanostructures from early reported polystyrene nanoparticles to the most promising cellulose nanostructures which can be successfully adapted to the desired amphiphilicity parameters through simple functionalization. Limitations on the use of such nano-sized entities related to control aggregation in the flotation process and the ability to adsorb at interphase boundaries are also presented. Overall, nanoparticles can become universal flotation collectors and also an alternative to conventionally used hydrocarbon-based reagents.

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This article was financed in part by a statutory activity subsidy from the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education for the Department of Process Engineering and Technology of Polymer and Carbon Materials of the Wroclaw University of Science and Technology.