Contact angle and induction time of air bubble on flat coal surface of different roughness

The wettability of coal is an important parameter for representing the surface hydrophobicity and floatability of coal particle, and hence determines coal flotation behavior. The wettability of coal is primarily governed by the surface functional groups. However, the role of surface topography in the wettability of coal has not attracted enough attentions. This paper was to investigate the effect of roughness on the wettability of coal by measuring the contact angle between air bubble and flat coal surface. Besides, a new method to measure the contact angle is introduced. The shape of the bubble is fitted by both the circle and the ellipse. The lump coal particles were used as coal sample and polished by sand papers of different meshes to gain the specific flat coal surfaces of different roughness. The attachment time measurements and Wenzel theory were used to further explain why the surface roughness has significant effects on the contact angle of air bubble on coal surface. Throughout this paper, it was found that the wettability of coal was decreased with the increase of surface roughness. The water may be entrapped in the pores/cracks of rough coal surface which prevents the attachment between coal surface and bubble as well as the spreading of three-phrase contact line. Therefore, both the attachment time and contact angle were decreased with the increase of roughness.