Investigation of flotation behavior of PAMAM dendrimers in industrial minerals

In this thesis, flotation reagent synthesis and usage possibilities of these reagents were investigated. Prepared PAMAM dendrimers optimum flotation behavior was investigated by microflotation which is one of the flotation test methods. The flotation efficiency of the synthesized dendrimers were compared with widely used commercial collectors. In flotation tests industrial ores of Malatya region; Feldspar, Quartz, Magnetite, Fluorite, Calcite, Galen, Simitsonite and Dolomite minerals were used. All samples were identified by physically and chemically using various methods. A fully automated microflotation device was designed and produced to demonstrate the flotation behavior of the synthesized PAMAM dendrimers with the pure natural minerals. According to the obtained experiment results, it was possible to make the second generation PAMAM dendrimers float the pure natural magnetite with 87.76% flotation efficiency in pH 8. The flotation efficiencies of other ores in the presence of PAMAM dendrimers were as follows: Feldspar 35%; Quartz 40,19%; Fluoride 40.13%; Calcite 37.21%; Galen 42%; Simitsonite 39.01% and Dolomite 44.59%. As a result, the pure natural magnetite was floated at a close rate to the flotation efficiency of common commercial collector with second generation PAMAM dendrimers. Thus, it has been scientifically determined that PAMAM dendrimers can be used as a flotation reagent.