Research Progress in Flotation Collectors for Lepidolite Mineral: An Overview

ABSTRACT

With the blowout development of new energy automobiles, greater attention is being paid to lithium-ion power batteries. The demand for lithium is rapidly increasing. The separation and enrichment of lepidolite, an important mineral for extraction of lithium, through froth flotation, have been widely investigated. This paper summarizes the latest research progress on lepidolite flotation emphasizing aspects such as cationic collectors and their combination with anionic collectors, as well as the flotation mechanism and application of collectors toward lepidolite. Based on the reviews and discussion, the future development of lepidolite collectors was prospected. This review would be crucial for understanding the research progress on lepidolite flotation collectors from the theoretical and practical aspects, which was bound to enlighten the efficient flotation recovery of lithium minerals and boost the development of new energy industry.

KEYWORDS:

• Lepidolite
• flotation
• collectors
• electrostatic attraction
• hydrophobicity

Acknowledgments

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to Professor Mile Klindo, my Australian English mentor, for his kindly help to polish the English of the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).