# Process Mineralogy of Micro/Nano Silicon-Carbon Ore Obtained from Jiangxi, China
## 3 Results  
### Mineral Composition  
The results of multi-element analysis of the ore sample are shown in Table 1. The XRD pattern of the ore sample is shown in Figure 2. Table 1 shows that the main component of the ore was SiO\({}_{2}\) (81.28%), which originated from quartz. Carbon accounted for 10.77% of the ore sample. The mass fraction of Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\) in the ore was 4.56%, which mainly originated from kaolinite. Iron and sulfur were mainly present in the form of pyrite (2.01%). The ore also contained small amounts of Mg, Ti, Ca, K, and Na, derived from minerals such as muscovite.  
Figure 3a shows the DSC-TG curves of the ore sample. Across the entire reaction, the quality of the ore decreased by 10.79%. The first decomposition stage of the sample ranged from 25 to 200 \({}^{\circ}\)C. This stage comprised an endothermic reaction; it presented as a convex curve. Moisture and volatile compounds were released from the mineral sample during this stage [16]. The endothermic peak was located at 64.3 \({}^{\circ}\)C, and the chemical reaction heat was 0.656 mW\(\cdot\)mg\({}^{-1}\). The second decomposition stage of the sample ranged from 420 to 720 \({}^{\circ}\)C. This stage comprised an exothermic reaction; it exhibited a sunken curve. This stage mainly comprised the oxidation of carbon or organic compounds in the mineral sample [17]. The exothermic peak at this stage was at 625.9 \({}^{\circ}\)C, which is when the oxidation of carbon reached its highest reaction rate. The chemical reaction heat was \(-7.531\) mW\(\cdot\)mg\({}^{-1}\).  
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c c c} \hline
**Element** & **SiO\({}_{2}\)** & **Al\({}_{2}\)O\({}_{3}\)** & **MgO** & **TiO\({}_{2}\)** & **CaO** \\ \hline Content (wt\%) & 81.28 & 4.56 & 0.15 & 0.32 & 0.19 \\ \hline
**Element** & **K\({}_{2}\)O** & **FeS\({}_{2}\)** & **Na\({}_{2}\)O** & **C** & \\ \hline Content (wt\%) & 0.44 & 2.01 & 0.28 & 10.77 & \\ \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table}
Table 1: Multi-element analysis of the ore sample by ICP-MS and EA.  
Figure 2: XRD spectra of the ore sample.  
Figure 3b shows the FTIR pattern of the ore sample. The characteristic absorption peaks of hydroxyl (O-H) stretching vibration appeared in the range of 4000-3500 cm\({}^{-1}\) (Figure 3b), with wavenumbers of 3696.14 and 3619.57 cm\({}^{-1}\). Combined with DSC analysis, these characteristic absorption peaks were attributed to small amounts of water and hydroxyl in the mineral sample [18].  
A single characteristic absorption peak was observed at 1571.70 cm\({}^{-1}\). This corresponded to the stretching vibration of a carbon-carbon single bond (C-C).  
Eight characteristic absorption peaks were identified in the range of 400-1330 cm\({}^{-1}\). The double peaks at 1162.87 and 1083.80 cm\({}^{-1}\) were recognized as Si-O-Si antisymmetric stretching vibration absorption peaks, while the double peaks at 796.46 and 777.17 cm\({}^{-1}\) were classified as Si-O-Si symmetric stretching vibration absorption peaks. The double peaks at 511.04 and 464.76 cm\({}^{-1}\), however, were identified as the bending vibration absorption peaks of the Si-O bond [19]. The single characteristic absorption peak at 914.09 cm\({}^{-1}\) was classified as the Al-OH swing absorption peak, while the single absorption peak at 694.25 cm\({}^{-1}\) was assigned as the Al-OH vertical vibration absorption peak. Combined with the XRD results, these findings prove that the absorption peaks in this region mainly belonged to the absorption peaks of quartz and kaolinite [20]. The low modal abundances of pyrite, muscovite, and other minerals meant that they were not obviously reflected in the IR spectrum.