Abstract
In this work, the active sites and species involved in xanthate adsorption on sphalerite/marmatite surfaces were studied using adsorption capacity measurements, single mineral flotation, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) analysis. The effects of Fe concentration on the xanthate adsorption capacity, Cu activation, and the flotation response of sphalerite/marmatite were determined. A discovery was that xanthate can interact with Fe atoms in the crystal of sphalerite/marmatite, as well as with Zn and Cu on the surface. We detected C2S2− fragment ions from dixanthogen, and dixanthogen may have been adsorbed on the surface of marmatite. The amounts of Cu and copper xanthate adsorbed on the marmatite surface were lower than those on the sphalerite surface, because Fe occupies Cu and Zn exchange sites. These results help to address the long-standing controversy regarding the products and mechanisms of xanthate adsorption on Fe-bearing sphalerite surfaces.
Highlights
Sphalerite is an important Zn-containing mineral and is often found in association with sulfide minerals such as galena, pyrite, and chalcopyrite [1,2]
The results show that xanthate addition led to the marmatite surface enriched with OCSFe−, OCSZn−, OCS2Fe−, C4H9OCS2−, and OCS2Zn− fragment ions
The fragment ion peaks from copper xanthate (CSCu+, OCSCu+, and OCS2 Cu+ ) were detected on the Cu-activated marmatite surface after xanthate absorption. This is in agreement with the experimental result that the xanthate adsorption capacity of the Cu-activated marmatite surface was greater than that of the marmatite surface (Figure 1)
Summary
Sphalerite is an important Zn-containing mineral and is often found in association with sulfide minerals such as galena, pyrite, and chalcopyrite [1,2]. The number of surface defects in marmatite is greater than that in sphalerite with a low Fe content, more Cu ions can be adsorbed on the surface These results suggest that Fe has significant effects on Cu activation of sphalerite as well as xanthate adsorption, but this is still debatable. To explain the contradictory results of previous studies of xanthate adsorption products and their formation mechanisms in sphalerite/marmatite, we used adsorption determination, single mineral flotation, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) to investigate the effects of iron on xanthate adsorption and identify their active sites
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