Ion
flotation was studied for the removal of cadmium, zinc, and
strontium ions from aqueous solutions at pH 5–9 in a customized
flotation cell, using an aminopolycarboxylic chelating surfactant,
2-dodecyldiethylenetriamine pentaacetic acid (C12-DTPA)
in combination with two foaming agents: dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride
(DoTAC) and dimethyldodecylamine-N-oxide (DDAO). The results from
experiments showed that both Zn2+ and Cd2+ could
be removed via ion flotation to 100% at pH 5, and Sr2+ could
be removed via ion flotation to 60%–70% at pH 7–9. The
removal of metal ions from the flotation cell was seen to vary with
pH, but this was not exclusively related to the magnitudes of the
formed metal ion-chelating surfactant conditional stability constants.
The removal was also dependent on the foam properties of the samples
that were found to vary over the investigated pH interval. The outcome
of the investigation points to the chelating surfactant C12-DTPA having excellent chelating properties for all of the studied
ions above pH 7. In combination with correctly chosen foaming agents,
the optimized surfactant system could be expected to provide very
efficient remediation of waters polluted with metal ions via ion flotation.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.