Flotation behavior and surface analytical study of synthesized (octylthio)aniline and bis(octylthio)benzene as novel collectors on sulfide minerals

Abstract

Six novel collectors, 2-(octylthio)aniline (2-OA), 3-(octylthio)aniline (3-OA), 4-(octylthio)aniline (4-OA), 1,2-bis(octylthio)benzene (2-OB), 1,3-bis(octylthio)benzene (3-OB) and 1,4-bis(octylthio)benzene (4-OB) were synthesized and newly introduced as collectors in the flotation of copper sulfide ores. Collector PAX was used as a standard to evaluate the flotation performance of the novel collectors using two kinds of ore samples. The results showed that the novel collectors, especially collector 2-OA, had the strongest flotation capacity, with the highest copper recovery of 95.6% from the chalcopyrite sample at pH 9 and a collector dosage of 100 g/t, while PAX yielded only 66.5% under the same flotation conditions. Likewise in the flotation of copper sulfide ore sample, the flotation performance of the novel collectors was generally improved than that of PAX. The flotation kinetics study showed that the 2-OA novel collector had a faster reaction rate than PAX. The adsorption experiments revealed excellent adsorption characteristics of the novel collectors on the chalcopyrite surface with an adsorption rate of up to 99.3%. UV analysis showed that the novel collectors were more reactive to copper than iron, confirming that the novel collectors enhance the copper recovery in sulfide ore flotation. The infrared spectral analysis exhibited that the novel collectors were adsorbed on the surface of chalcopyrite with the generation of a new substance.