High-purity antimony sulfide condensate produced from heterogeneous antimony sulfide ore by directed volatilization in a vacuum ambient

Abstract

Antimony sulfide production primarily depends on a single antimony sulfide ore. With the rapid depletion of high-quality antimony resources, antimony production capacity gradually declines, and supply is unstable. This paper proposes vacuum distillation as a technical method for preparing antimony sulfide from heterogeneous antimony sulfide ores. The volatilization rate of antimony sulfide was measured at 5 Pa pressure. Temperature and time effects on antimony sulfide enrichment were discussed. The results highlighted that the critical volatilization temperature of antimony sulfide was 923 K, and the volatilization rate was 8.28 × 10−4 g⋅cm−2⋅s−1. In the enrichment experiment, as the temperature increased from 773 K to 973 K, the volatilization ratio of antimony sulfide gradually increased from 9.36 % to 98.58 %, and the PbS phase was detected in the volatile at 973 K. The optimum enrichment conditions are 923 K and 60 min, with a volatilization ratio of 95 % and purity of 99.9 wt%. This method provides a scientific and technically feasible route for treating heterogeneous antimony sulfide ore, which can effectively alleviate the excessive reliance on single antimony sulfide ore in traditional smelting. In addition, it gives a new idea for the clean and efficient preparation of antimony sulfide.