Zinc Concentrate
Zinc is an incredibly important metal for the development of a sustainable society. A thin layer of zinc – known as galvanizing – extends the lifetime of steel structures by preventing corrosion for 50 to 100 years. Rarely is the ore, as mined, rich enough to be used directly by smelters; it needs to be concentrated. Zinc ores contain 5-15% zinc. To concentrate the ore it is first crushed and then ground to enable optimal separation from the other minerals. Typically, a zinc concentrate contains about 55% of zinc with some copper, lead and iron. The most common zinc concentrate processed is zinc sulfide, which is obtained by concentrating sphalerite using the froth flotation method. Preparation of zinc concentrate typically involves the removal of water from a zinc solution. Zinc concentrate is advantageous for transportation since it reduces weight and volume. A solution can be reproduced at the time of usage with the addition of a solvent.
Concentrate is also useful in any application where high surface areas are desired such as water treatment and in fuel cell and solar applications. Nanoparticles also produce very high surface areas. Our standard Concentrate particle sizes average in the range of - 325 mesh, - 100 mesh, 10-50 microns and submicron (< 1 micron). We can also provide many materials in the nanoscale range.
Properties of Zinc Concentrate
| Molecular Weight | 65.38 |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Shiny silvery-grey |
| Boiling point | 907 °C |
| Melting point | 420 °C |
| Density | 7.14 g/cm3(20 °C) |
| Electrical Resistivity | 59.0 nΩ·m (20 °C) |
| Electronegativity | 1.65 Paulings |
| Heat of fusion | 7.32 kJ/mol |
| Heat of vaporization | 115 kJ/mol |
| Poisson's ratio | 0.25 |
| Specific heat | 0.39 J/g·°C (25 °C) |
| Solubility in H2O | N/A |
| Thermal conductivity | 116 W/(m·K) |
| Thermal expansion | 30.2 µm/(m·K) (25 °C) |
| Young's modulus | 108 GPa |