Research on application effect and mechanism of degradable multifunctional dust suppression foam in coal mines

Polymer foam can restrain dust, whereas it has low dust suppression efficiency and a short duration under extreme climate conditions. In this research, based on the green and environmentally friendly method of enzyme crosslinking, an environmentally friendly composite dust suppression foam was prepared by modifying soy protein isolates (SPI) with the use of enzyme crosslinking gelatin (GEL) molecules. The results showed that the compound of 0.2% SPI and 0.6% GEL produced a more ordered structure gel. This gel was compounded with 0.36% dodecyl dimethylamine oxide (OA-12) to synthetize a dust suppression foam, which could form a hard shell on the surface of coal dust. The coal shell had a water retention effect 45.45% higher than spraying water individually, and could maintain the hardness at 77.58HA even after 96 h of freezing. On-site dust suppression simulation experiments indicated that at a wind speed of 15 m/s, the dust suppression efficiency of the foam on PM10 and PM2.5 reached above 98%, and even after 60 days, they were still above 97%. Molecular dynamics simulations revealed that the interaction between water and coal interfaces was significantly enhanced. This research provides a feasible scheme for polymeric dust suppression foam in open-pit coal mines and tailings.