Preparation of Mussel-Inspired Stable-Bonding Dust Binders for Fugitive Dust Control

Considerable fugitive dust generated during the mining, transportation, and storage of mineral materials pollutes the environment and poses threat to the health of workers and surrounding residents. Spraying polymer solutions is usually used to suppress fugitive dust, but the dust will return to the air under the erosion of wind and rain due to the lack of a stable bonding mechanism with the dust. Based on this, through polymerization of mussel-inspired lignin-Ag nanoparticles (NPs), acrylic acid, and alkyl polyglucoside, an environmentally friendly stable-bonding dust binder was prepared. Different from the high initial viscosity of traditional polymer dust suppressants, the stable-bonding dust binder with high consolidation ability but easily atomized characteristic related to the synthesis of short-chain polymer systems with concentration-sensitive self-assembly behavior. When a 10 m/s wind was applied to dust treated by the stable-bonding dust binder, the mass-loss rate (6%) was lower than the dust treated by only a surfactant solution (100%) or polyacrylic acid solution (27%). When 12 L of water was sprayed on the dust (100 g) treated with the stable-bonding dust binder, the residual stress strength (1 MPa) was higher than the dust treated with only the polyacrylic acid solution (0.017 MPa). Furthermore, molecular dynamics simulation of the interaction between the dust-binder molecules and coal molecules was carried out to confirm the adhesion of lignin-Ag NPs to dust. Our research on dust binders provides a path for the stable control of fugitive dust, which improves the consolidation efficiency of dust and reduces costs.