Interaction mechanism of the collector,2-mercaptobenzothiazole（MBT）,with chalcopyrite and sphalerite surfaces were investigated by Fourier transform infrared（FTIR） and density functional theory,Results of FTIR showed that some characteristic peaks of MBT were observed on the chalcopyrite surface,including C=N,C=N-S and C-S stretching vibration peaks,and the adsorption product was CuMBT.But there were no characteristic peaks of MBT on the sphalerite surface.The thione molecular form of MBT was the most efficient and stable,N and exocyclic S were the more favourable reactive sites for nucleophilic attacked by metal atoms.Compared with ZnS（110）,MBT is more readily adsorbed on CuFeS2（112）.Attachment of MBT occurs due to strong bonding through exocyclic S p and s orbits with Cu d orbit on CuFeS2（112） and electron transfer from Cu atom to S atom.Under the vacuum condition,MBT in the form of thione molecular cannot be adsorbed on ZnS（110） spontaneously.
The flotabilities of chalcopyrite and galena with sodium humate（HA） and ammonium persulfate（APS） as the depressant were studied by flotation test, adsorption measurement and infrared spectroscopic analysis. Single mineral flotation test shows that the slurry oxidation environment and the proper oxidation of galena surface are prerequisites for the depression of galena by sodium humate. The closed-circuit flotation test of copper/lead bulk concentrate shows that the grade and recovery of Cu reach 30.47% and 89.16% respectively and those of Pb reach 2.06% and1.58% respectively in copper concentrate, and the grade and recovery of Pb reach 50.34% and 98.42% and those of Cu reach 1.45% and 10.84% respectively in lead concentrate with HA and APS. The selective depression effect of HA and APS is more obvious than that of potassium dichromate. The results of FTIR analysis and adsorption measurements indicate that the adsorption of sodium humate on the fresh surface of galena is negligible, while after oxidation, sodium humate can be chemically adsorbed on the surface of galena. According to the theory of solubility product, the sodium humate can display the oxidation product PbSO_4, after then, adsorb on the surface of lead chemically to produce inhibitory effect. Thus, it can be seen that the combination of HA and APS is an efficient non-toxic reagent to achieve cleaning separation copper/lead bulk concentrate by flotation. The combination of HA and APS is an efficient non-toxic reagent to achieve cleaning for copper/lead bulk concentrate by flotation.
The effects of galvanic interaction between galena and pyrite on their flotation and electrochemical characters were studied by electrochemical,adsorption,flotation and FTIR techniques,respectively.Electrochemical tests indicate that galena is electrochemically more active than pyrite and serves as an anode in galvanic combination with pyrite.The galvanic current density from a mixture of galena and pyrite is 4 times as high as the self corrosion current density of galena,which indicates that the corrosion rate of galena is accelerated.Adsorption tests show that the adsorption of butyl xanthate on galena surface is enhanced,and affected by a combination of pyrite-galena mixtures and conditioning time.Compared with individual mineral particles,galvanic interaction reduces the floatability difference between galena and pyrite.The flotation recovery of galena decreases while that of pyrite increases when two minerals are mixed together due to the influence of galvanic interaction on the formation of hydrophilic/hydrophobic product.The FTIR results show that the formation of dixanthogen on pyrite surface is depressed due to the galvanic interaction.
The flotation and adsorption behaviors of dodecyltrimethylammonium chloride（DTAC） and cetyltrimethylammonium chloride（CTAC） on diaspore and kaolinite were studied.Solution depletion methods were used to determine adsorption isotherms.Fluorescence probe test along with Zeta potential measurement was also conducted for further investigation into the adsorption of quaternary amines at the mineral-water interface.The results show that the flotation recovery of kaolinite decreases with an increase in pH when DTAC and CTAC are used as collectors,while diaspore is on the contrary.As the carbon chain length of the collectors increases,the flotation recoveries of minerals increase.However,the increment rate of kaolinite is significantly lower than that of diaspore.In the low surfactant concentration range,the cationic surfactants adsorb readily on diaspore surfaces just due to electrostatic interactions.As for kaolinite surfaces,ion exchange process also exists.With a further increase in surfactant concentration,the adsorption was ascribed to the hydrophobic association of chain-chain interactions.Micro-polarity of mineral surfaces study shows that CTAC has a better hydrophobic characteristic than DTAC.Larger aggregates are formed with CTAC on diaspore than on kaolinite in the same solution concentration.The results also indicate that the chain length of cationic surfactants has a greater influence on the adsorption of diaspore than on kaolinite,which is consistent with the flotation result.
