International Proceedings of Chemical, Biological and Environmental Engineering, V0l.

96 (2016)
DOI: 10.7763/IPCBEE. 2016. V96. 2

Temperature Influence in Cornstarch Gelatinization for Froth

Flotation

A. C. Silva 1 , D. N. Sousa 2, E. M. S. Silva 1, T. P. Fontes 2, R. S. Tomaz 2 and M. R. Barros 1

1
Mineral Processing Research and Modeling Laboratory, Mine Engineering, Federal University of Goiás
2
Mining department, Goiano Federal Institute

Abstract. Starches are widely used as depressant in froth flotation operations in Brazil due to their
efficiency, increasing the selectivity in the inverse flotation of quartz depressing iron ore. Starches market
have been growing and improving in recent years, leading to better products attending the requirements of
mineral industry. The major source of starch used for iron ore is the cornstarch, which need to be gelatinized,
by heat or sodium hydroxide (NaOH) addition, prior its use. This stage has a direct impact on industrials
costs, once the lowest consumption of NaOH in gelatinization provides better control of the pH in the froth
flotation and reduce the amount of electrolytes present in the pulp. In order to evaluate the influence if the
temperature in the NaOH consumption gelatinization tests were carried out with temperatures ranging from
25 to 65 °C, measuring the volume of NaOH. All tests were performed in triplicate. A linear model correlating
the temperature and the NaOH need for the cornstarch gelatinization had been stablished. This model can
allow mineral industries to optimize the NaOH amount used to prepare the depressant to be used in froth
flotation. For example, the reduction in NaOH could easily reaches 480 L per ton of cornstarch when
performing gelatinization with cornstarch solution at 35 °C when compared to 25 °C.
Keywords: froth flotation, gelatinization, cornstarch, sodium hydroxide, temperature.

1. Introduction
Cornstarch is the default depressant for iron ore since 1978. Modified cornstarches are composed by
amylopectin (70-80%) and amylose (20-30%) without impurities such as fibers, mineral matter, oils and
proteins normally present in conventional starches [1]. The authors point out that oil (triglycerides) present in
conventional starch act as an antifoam agent spoiling the flotation process if its content exceeds 1.8%. The
starch’s depressant action is due to the coating of a natural low energy hydrophobic mineral surface with a
hydrophilic film to prevent the attachment of air bubbles [2].
Studies showing the importance of the amylose/amylopectin ratio in starch during hematite depression
point out that amylopectin reduces the hematite froth flotation more profoundly than amylose when a
primary ether amine is used as a collector [3]. The effectiveness of the alkali gelatinization is strongly
affected by the starch/NaOH ratio used in the gelatinization [4] and the dissolution technique [5], being the
typical ratio 5:1 [4], [6]. Some studies suggest that the starch solution was designed to yield a maximum
concentration of 0.1% w/w and must be prepared daily to avoid the retrogradation [7], [8]. However, this is
not well stablished and other studies disagree using concentrations up to 3% [9].
The temperature needed for gelatinization decreases with increasing of the amylopectin content.
Retrogradation occurs spontaneously when starch solutions are stored at low temperatures at neutral pH.
Amylose’s retrogradation may occur within a period of four to five hours after the gelatinization, while the
amylopectin retrogrades only 10% within 100 days [10].
The primary adsorption mechanisms of starch on hematite were proposed as non-selective hydrogen
bonding and electrostatic forces, mainly because of the presence of a large number of hydroxyl groups in


Corresponding author. Tel.: +55(64)8403-8716; fax: +55(64)3441-5327.
E-mail address: [email protected].
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starch molecules and on hematite surface. As confirmed by several studies, starch adsorbs more on hematite
surface than on quartz [11]. The adsorption density of starch on quartz surface is approximately 10 times less
than that on hematite [12]. For pH’s higher than 8, the starch adsorption is almost nonexistent on non-
activated quartz surface, while it is noticeable on hematite surface. The reasons for this selectivity are a
better ability of hematite surface to form hydrogen bonds with the depressant and the fact that quartz surface
is more negative than hematite, being the macromolecules slightly negative because of OH- adsorption [3].
On the other hand, the starch adsorption on hematite increases as the pH value decrease [7].
Other vegetable species, such as cassava, potato, wheat, rice, arrowroot, can produce starch with
potential to be used in flotation. The most attractive among them, considering the cost of production, is
cassava, which grows widely in warm weather countries, with no need of fertilizers or soil correction. The
major obstacle to its use is the absence of major suppliers. The starch fraction content (amylopectin +
amylose) extracted from cassava is higher than in corn because proteins and oil contents are lower in cassava,
which prevents the risk of froth suppression. Cassava starch shows higher viscosities than corn starch, an
indication of higher molecular weight, which can lead to more effective depressant action [6]. Potato flour
has been used industrially in Europe, but there are no records of its use in the mining industry so far, mainly
due the fact that potato degrades much faster than corn and have a high price [13].

2. Methodology
The first stage aimed to characterize the cornstarch sample (donate by Cargill) in order to better
understand its gelatinization. The cornstarch morphology was analyzed using a SEM Jeol JSM 6610. To
determine the amylose content a method proposed by the American Association of Cereal Chemists (AACC)
number 1995 was used, which is a simple colorimetric procedure. Samples of cornstarch were added to a
solution of 1 mL of acetic acid at 1 mol.L-1 and 2 mL of solution of iodine-potassium iodide, which reacts
with starch to form a blue colored complex. This complex is developed due to the imprisonment of iodine
inside the chain of amylose. The solution was then stored for 30 minutes in a dark room and then using a
spectrophotometer Biospectro, model SP220 read the absorbance at 620 nm. The content of amylose was
calculated using the absorbance values read and a calibration curve made with pure amylose (supplied by
Sigma-Aldrich) in the range of 0.004-0.024 mg.mL-1 (for this curve the obtained fit was r2 = 0.998). The
results were expressed in mg.mL-1 and performed in triplicate.
Cornstarch swelling power and solubility were also measured to calculate the amylose content in it.
When starch molecules are heated in water, the crystalline structure is broken and the water molecules form
hydrogen bonds between amylose and amylopectin, exposing its hydroxyl groups. This causes an increase in
the granule size (a swelling) and in its solubility [14]. This swelling power and solubility varies according to
the starch source, providing evidence of the interaction between the starch chains within the amorphous and
crystalline domains. The extension of these interactions is influenced by the ratio amylose/amylopectin due
to molecular features distributed, molecular weight, degree, length of branches [15]. The swelling power was
obtained by the relation between the final mass swelled and the starch initial mass. The starch solubility was
calculated by the relation between the soluble mass and initial amount of starch (expressed in percentage).
Finally, the temperature influence in the NaOH consumption was stablished through experiments using
both solution temperature control and NaOH addition to it, avoiding the excessive use of NaOH. Cornstarch
samples of 20 g were placed in a 600 mL beaker on top of a heating plate Ika C MAG HS 4. Then 200 mL of
distilled water at pH 7 and different temperatures (ranging from 25 to 65 °C) were added to the sample and
the solution was kept under agitation at 1,200 RPM using a mechanical stirrer Fisatom 712 to promote a
complete dilution of the starch sample. A pH meter Hanna Instruments HI2221 was installed in order to read
the solution pH and to provide temperature control. After the complete dilution of the cornstarch sample, the
initial pH value was noted and the titration started. An aliquot of 1 mL of 10% NaOH solution was added
every 2 minutes to the cornstarch solution. Before a new addition of the NaOH solution, the pH was noted.
The process was repeated until the point that the starch solution presented itself viscous and more transparent
(also known as the turning point of the gelatinization). Four steps of the gelatinization process can be seen in
Fig. 1. All titration process was performed in triplicate.

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 (a) (b) (c) (d)
Fig. 1: Four steps in the starches and flours alkaline gelatinization process. (a) cornstarch sample, (b) cornstarch
solution after complete solubilization, (c), step in the titration process and (d) complete gelatinization of the cornstarch
sample.

3. Results and Discussion

Fig. 2 shows the SEM results for size and morphology of cornstarch. The average grain diameter was 15
µm, with values ranging from 11 to 17 µm. No protein ribbons were visualized and some broken grains were
detected. As expected, the cornstarch samples showed 71.62% of amylose and amylopectin 28.38%.
Cornstarch samples showed solubility equal to 12.57% and swelling power of 22.85%. These values are
significantly low compared to other starches. It has been proven in the literature that high amylose starches
show limited solubility and swelling power, even after a prolonged heating time [16].

(a) (b)

(c) (d)
Fig. 2: SEM images for cornstarch sample. Magnification (a) x150, (b) x500, (c) and (d) x3,000.

Fig. 3 shows the NaOH volume consumed in the cornstarch gelatinization at different solution
temperatures. As expected, the NaOH volume needed for the cornstarch gelatinization decreases with the
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increase of the temperature. An experiment at 65 °C was performed in absence of NaOH, being this the
minimum temperature required for cornstarch gelatinization in absence of NaOH. Temperatures lower than
25 °C were not considered. It is well known in the literature that the greater the proportion of amylopectin
the lower the temperature required for the starch gelatinization [10]. A linear model was obtained with fit (r2)
around 98%, which can be considered adequate. It is also possible to notice that the experimental errors
(represented by the standard deviation) in the NaOH consumed where lower than 0.65 mL.

Fig. 3: Influence of the temperature in the NaOH consumption for cornstarch gelatinization.

Table I shows the average initial and final pH for the gelatinization tests and the average NaOH
consumed at the turning point. It is possible to notice that cornstarch acidify the solution the solution after its
dilution in the begging of the process. At the turning point, the average pH of the solution was above 12 for
all tested temperatures, except for 65 °C. This happened because no NaOH was added to the solution and
therefore the pH remained the same.

Table I: Average initial and final pH for the gelatinization tests and average NaOH consumed at turning point.
Average pH at turning Average NaOH consumed at the Standard deviation of NaOH
Temperature (°C) Average initial pH
point turning point (mL) consumption
25 5.53 12.87 28.3 0.32
30 5.36 12.73 24.0 0.21
35 5.19 12.91 18.7 0.30
40 5.17 12.83 15.0 0.20
45 5.29 12.77 12.3 0.47
50 5.32 12.46 10.0 0.58
55 5.52 12.09 6.3 0.62
60 5.31 12.01 4.7 0.19
65 5.21 5.21 0.0 0.00

4. Conclusions
The cornstarch used in the experiments had characteristics similar to described in the literature. Although
some broken and irregular grains where seen in SEM images no protein ribbons were noted. Regarding the
amylose/amylopectin ratio, the cornstarch was similar to results found for natural (or non-modified) starches.
This ratio determines many properties of starches, such as clarity, viscosity, texture, tendency to
retrogradation, ability to resist to acids, stirring and temperature extremes. Amylose is an essentially linear
molecule consisting of D-glucose units linked with a small amount of branching. In contrast, amylopectin is
a highly branched molecule composed by chains with many lengths of D-glucose units linked. It had been
proposed in the literature that high amylose starches show limited solubility and swelling power, even after a
prolonged heating time, which agrees with the found results.
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 The use of NaOH titration presented itself as an easy, but powerful, tool for study the NaOH
consumption needed in the gelatinization of the cornstarch showing a linear relation between temperature
and NaOH consumption. Understanding this relation is critical for mineral processing, specifically to froth
flotation, since it may be possible to achieve a complete gelatinization of cornstarch with lower amounts of
NaOH by changing the temperature. A temperature difference of 5 °C (from 25 to 30 °C, acceptable for
Brazilian weather) means that is possible to reduce around 215 L of NaOH per ton of cornstarch in its
gelatinization. If the temperature variation is even higher, for example a temperature possible to be reached
in Brazil’s summer such as 35 °C by day and 25 or lower by night, the reduction in NaOH could easily
reaches 480 L per ton of cornstarch.

5. Acknowledgements
The authors thank financial support from the Brazilian agencies CNPq, CAPES, FAPEG and FUNAPE.
In addition, we like to thank Cargilll for the samples donation, Federal University of Goiás and Goiano
Federal Institute.

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