9624562 Chaudhuri Description: This award supports a US-Indo cooperative project between US scientists, Drs. Brij Moudgil, postdoctoral fellow Michael L. Free, Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Florida, and Drs. N.C. Chaudhuri, Pradip of the Tata Research Development & Design Centre (TRDDC), Pune, India. The objective of this research is to understand the basic mechanism involved in selective adsorption of hydroxamate and fatty acid reagents in the iron oxide-titania systems. Physical and surface chemical characterization would involve x-rays, SEM, pore size distribution and electrokinetic measurements. Adsorption, FT-IR and microflotation tests would be conducted to identify the conditions for achieving the desired separation. Selectivity observed would be explained on the basis of conditional stability constants, crystal structure specificity and molecular orbital considerations. It is expected that the fundamental knowledge base generated in this study would be useful in scientific design of reagent schemes for processing of low grade complex ores. Scope: This project allows cooperation between two well known scientists whose capabilities complement each other and who work in institutions with complementary facilities for the proposed research. Dr. Moudgil is the director of the newly established Engineering Research Center for Particle Science and Technology, University of Florida. He has published extensively, including several co-publications with Pradip. The collaboration with Dr. Chaudhuri is new and likely to benefit both institutions. This project meets a number of important objectives of the Division of International Programs, especially the inclusion of a postdoctoral fellow and a new Indian participant in the collaboration.
