Role of ammonium phosphate in improving the physical characteristics of malachite sulfidation flotation

Abstract

In this study, ammonium phosphate ((NH<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub>) was employed to realize improvement by modifying the physical characteristics of the malachite surface, ensuring sustainable flotation throughout the flotation operations, and enhancing the flotation process to be more stable. Furthermore, various techniques, including X−ray photoelectron spectroscopy, were intensely used to investigate the configuration and physico-chemical surface characteristics through micro-flotation experiments, contact angle and zeta potential measurements, and XRD, ToF−SIMS, EPMA, and FTIR spectrum analyses. The FTIR findings showed that new characteristic peaks of −C(=S)−N.H. groups formed and adsorbed on the surfaces of malachite at 1636 cm<sup>-1</sup>. The −CH<sub>2</sub> groups throughout the flotation process, further promoted the attachment of the CH<sub>3</sub> ligand to the Cu<sup>2+</sup> ion, and the XPS analysis confirmed this. Consequently, it can be concluded that (NH<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> played a substantial part in the improved recovery rate, as demonstrated and confirmed by the methods carried out in this study. Thus, it was used to modify the physical properties surface before adding Na<sub>2</sub>S to efficiently enhance malachite floatability and reduce the loss rate of malachite. Regarding the alterations in the physical characteristics which occurred to the malachite surface, and as a consequence of increasing the recovery results of flotation, the malachite sample treated initially with (NH<sub>4</sub>)<sub>3</sub>PO<sub>4</sub> exhibited micro flotation results with a considerably greater flotation recovery than malachite treated initially with only Na<sub>2</sub>S ions.