Coflotation Separation for the Determination of Heavy Metals in Water Using Colloidal Gas Aphrons Systems

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Abstract
The separation and preconcentration of metal traces using CGA in connection with coflotation processes is described. A 4:1 mixture of anionic surfactants consisting of sodium dodecylsulfate and potassium oleate has been used to generate the CGA system, and Fe(OH)3 has been used as a collector. The separation process has been optimized using the Simplex Method (COFLOT computer program) complemented with a factorial design to investigate the influence of the different parameters in the investigated process. The results obtained evidenced recovery yields over 90% for the elements investigated (Cu, Co, Cd, and Ni), implying flotation times under 5 minutes as applied to samples of varying salinity, concentration, and volume.