Effect of selective coating of magnetite on improving magnetic separation of ilmenite from titanaugite

Abstract Magnetic separation of ilmenite from titanaugite was conducted by the selectively magnetic coating method in this study, and the mechanism of magnetite coating on ilmenite was investigated by calculating the interaction force. After magnetic coating, the recovery of TiO2 in mixed mineral magnetic separation increased by 36%. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) confirmed that magnetite preferentially coated onto the ilmenite surface during magnetic coating process, leading to an obvious enhancement of ilmenite magnetism. Furthermore, the selective coating behavior of magnetite was ascribed to a physical interaction and has been confirmed by the Fourier transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis. The calculation of interaction force indicated that the magnetic attraction force between ilmenite and magnetite was stronger than that between magnetite and titanaugite, which resulted in the selective coating of magnetite on the mineral surfaces. Therefore, magnetic coating has potential in improving the magnetic separation of ilmenite from titanaugite.