Selective Dispersion and Characterization of Fine Particle Mixture in Concentrated Suspensions for Advanced Particle Processing

This chapter aims to summarize the investigation on the selective dispersion and characterization of particle mixture systems in concentrated suspensions to better understand their current status and to extract the useful information for advanced particle processing. Dispersion of fine particles is a challenging problem. The first difficulty is to achieve a long-term stability of particle dispersions, avoiding coagulation after physical or chemical treatment. The second difficulty is to selectively disperse/liberate particles along grain/material boundaries for promoting the subsequent process (e.g., particle self-assembly and mineral separation). The first half of this chapter, thus, provides a brief overview of this subject and also introduces a new way of achieving selective fine particle dispersion by an electric field application. In terms of characterization, a limited number of studies have been performed on the characterization of the particle-particle interaction in mixture systems, compared with the single particle systems. Particle processing, on the other hand, handles the mixed particle systems in concentrated suspensions. The second half of this chapter introduces the importance and characterization method of mixed particle systems in concentrated suspensions in relation to industrial processes, especially mineral processing. There has been increasing demand on the utilization of complex ores due to decrease in the accessibility of high-grade and easily extractable ores. In order to maintain the sustainable use of mineral resources, the effective beneficiation of complex ores is urgently required. It can be achieved with the selective particle dispersion/liberation and the strong assist from the mineralogical and particle characterizations.