Synthesis of S-Allyl-O, O′-Dibutyl Phosphorodithioate and Its Adsorption Mechanism on Chalcopyrite Surface

Abstract

The demand for non-ferrous copper metals has increased dramatically with the development of the global economy; accordingly, some refractory copper sulfide ores with low grade and their associated minerals are beginning to be utilized, making the flotation separation of copper concentrates exceptionally difficult, especially the separation of chalcopyrite and pyrite. In this paper, S-allyl-O, O′-dibutyl phosphorodithioate (ADTP) was synthesized by a one-pot method and used as a chalcopyrite collector in the flotation separation of chalcopyrite and pyrite. Flotation experiments results have shown that ADTP exhibits better selectivity and greater collecting power for chalcopyrite under neutral or weak base conditions. The 95% recovery of chalcopyrite can be achieved at pH 8.0 and 8.0 mg/L ADTP. From the analysis results of the contact angle, the SEM-EDS spectrogram, and elemental mapping, it was found that ADTP adsorbed uniformly on a chalcopyrite surface and made a significant contribution to the hydrophobicity of the surface. Confirmed by FTIR and XPS analysis, ADTP was able to form P–S–Cu bonds on a chalcopyrite surface, proving that it was adsorbed on the chalcopyrite surface in the form of chemisorption.