我国作为全球最大的铁矿石消费国，对外依存度持续攀升导致资源保障能力面临严峻挑战，已严重制约钢铁工业的稳定发展。含碳酸盐赤铁矿石浮选过程中菱铁矿泥化严重，易罩盖赤铁矿与石英，导致铁精矿品位和回收率降低。为提升铁矿资源利用效率，本研究创新引入氩气等离子体技术调控矿物表面性质，强化含碳酸盐赤铁矿石的浮选分离。

         通过单矿物浮选试验，系统考察了在油酸钠用量、pH 值、淀粉用量、氯化钙用量等参数下，氩气等离子体预处理对菱铁矿、赤铁矿和石英可浮性的影响。结果表明：在优化药剂制度下，预处理30 min后，菱铁矿回收率显著提升，赤铁矿回收率大幅降低，石英回收率基本不变，有效扩大了不同矿物间的可浮性差异。

         混合矿浮选试验进一步验证了分离效果：预处理30 min后，菱铁矿-石英、菱铁矿-赤铁矿及赤铁矿-石英的分离指数均提升。针对菱铁矿-赤铁矿-石英（三元混合矿）的两段浮选中，预处理后，一段的菱铁矿回收率提高了，二段泡沫产品的石英回收率增加，赤铁矿回收率降低，而沉物产品产率提高了，其TFe品位也提高了，分离效率整体提高。

         颗粒间相互作用行为研究表明，氩气等离子体预处理选择性调控了矿物间相互作用：菱铁矿颗粒团聚增强，沉降速度、絮团粒径与絮团密实度增大；赤铁矿团聚减弱，沉降速度、絮团粒径与絮团密实度减小；石英行为稳定。同时，菱铁矿在赤铁矿和石英表面的罩盖现象明显削弱。

         机理分析揭示：氩气等离子体预处理通过选择性改变了矿物的表面粗糙度，从而影响了矿物表面的元素组成与表面特性。菱铁矿表面疏水性增强、Zeta电位正移、诱导时间缩短；赤铁矿则呈现疏水性减弱、Zeta电位负移、诱导时间增大；石英性质稳定。颗粒间相互作用能计算证实：菱铁矿颗粒间相互作用能降低，赤铁矿颗粒间相互作用能增加，而石英不变，进一步解释了团聚行为差异及可浮性分化的本质。

         本研究为含碳酸盐赤铁矿石的高效利用提供了新的思路。通过提升国内铁矿资源的综合利用率，有望降低对进口铁矿石的依赖，保障钢铁工业的稳定发展，对我国资源安全和工业可持续发展具有重要意义。

         As the world's largest consumer of iron ore, China faces a severe challenge in resource security due to the continuously increasing dependence on imports, which has seriously restricted the stable development of the steel industry. During the flotation process of carbonate-bearing hematite ore, the severe mud formation of siderite tends to cover hematite and quartz, resulting in a decrease in the grade and recovery rate of iron concentrate. To improve the utilization efficiency of iron ore resources, this study innovatively introduces Ar plasma technology to regulate the surface properties of minerals and enhance the flotation separation of carbonate-bearing hematite ore.

         Single mineral flotation tests were systematically conducted to investigate the effects of Ar plasma pretreatment on the floatability of siderite, hematite, and quartz under various parameters, including sodium oleate dosage, pH value, starch dosage, and calcium chloride dosage. The results showed that under the optimized reagent system, after 30 minutes of pretreatment, the recovery rate of siderite was significantly increased, the recovery rate of hematite was greatly reduced, and the recovery rate of quartz remained almost unchanged, effectively widening the floatability differences among different minerals.

         Mixed mineral flotation tests further verified the separation effect: after 30 minutes of pretreatment, the separation indices of siderite-quartz, siderite-hematite, and hematite-quartz were all improved. In the two-stage flotation of siderite-hematite-quartz (ternary mixed ore), after pretreatment, the recovery rate of siderite in the first stage was increased, the recovery rate of quartz in the second stage froth product was increased, the recovery rate of hematite was reduced, the yield of the underflow product was increased, and its TFe grade was also increased, resulting in an overall improvement in separation efficiency.

         The study on interparticle interaction behavior revealed that Ar plasma pretreatment selectively regulated the interactions among minerals: the aggregation of siderite particles was enhanced, with increased settling velocity, floc size, and floc compactness; the aggregation of hematite was weakened, with decreased settling velocity, floc size, and floc compactness; and the behavior of quartz remained stable. Meanwhile, the covering phenomenon of siderite on the surfaces of hematite and quartz was significantly weakened.

         Mechanistic analysis revealed that Ar plasma pretreatment selectively altered the surface roughness of minerals, thereby affecting the elemental composition and surface properties of the mineral surfaces. The surface hydrophobicity of siderite was enhanced, the zeta potential shifted positively, and the induction time was shortened; hematite exhibited decreased hydrophobicity, negative zeta potential shift, and increased induction time; while quartz remained stable. The calculation of interparticle interaction energy confirmed that the interaction energy among siderite particles decreased, the interaction energy among hematite particles increased, and that of quartz remained unchanged, further explaining the essence of the differences in aggregation behavior and floatability differentiation.

         This study provides a new approach for the efficient utilization of carbonate-bearing hematite ore. By improving the comprehensive utilization rate of domestic iron ore resources, it is expected to reduce the dependence on imported iron ore, ensure the stable development of the steel industry, and is of great significance to China's resource security and industrial sustainable development.

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