Hydrophobic surfaces in mineral flotation: The effect of (physical and chemical) heterogeneity on wettability and wetting film stability

Abstract

The determination of the hydrophobicity of minerals is a central activity in research into the physical chemistry of mineral flotation. The tendency for surfaces to interact well or adversely with water determines whether a mineral will be collected in a flotation cell. This review focuses on a description of the core chemistry and physics behind the property of surface hydrophobicity, and on the measurement of that degree of hydrophobicity for real mineral surfaces, on microscopic and macroscopic length scales, using the most advanced imaging tools for visualizing the three-phase contact line between solid, liquid, and vapor. Furthermore, attention is paid to the non-traditional means to in..