Depression mechanism of sulfite ions on sphalerite and Pb<sup>2+</sup> activated sphalerite in the flotation separation of galena from sphalerite

Feng Zhang; Chenyang Zhang; Linlin Wu; Wei Sun; Hongliang Zhang; Jianhua Chen; Yong Pei; Songjiang Li

doi:10.1007/s12613-024-2936-2

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Feng Zhang, Chenyang Zhang, Linlin Wu, Wei Sun, Hongliang Zhang, Jianhua Chen, Yong Pei, and Songjiang Li, Depression mechanism of sulfite ions on sphalerite and Pb²⁺ activated sphalerite in the flotation separation of galena from sphalerite, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater.,(2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-024-2936-2

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Feng Zhang, Chenyang Zhang, Linlin Wu, Wei Sun, Hongliang Zhang, Jianhua Chen, Yong Pei, and Songjiang Li, Depression mechanism of sulfite ions on sphalerite and Pb2+ activated sphalerite in the flotation separation of galena from sphalerite, Int. J. Miner. Metall. Mater.,(2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12613-024-2936-2

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Research Article

Depression mechanism of sulfite ions on sphalerite and Pb²⁺ activated sphalerite in the flotation separation of galena from sphalerite

+ Author Affiliations

1)
Engineering Research Center of Ministry of Education for Carbon Emission Reduction in Metal Resource Exploitation and Utilization, Hunan International Joint Research Center for Efficient and Clean Utilization of Critical Metal Mineral Resources, School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
2)
State Key Laboratory of Complex Nonferrous Metal Resources Clean Utilization, Kunming 650093, China
3)
Hunan Provincial Key Laboratory of Micro & Nano Materials Interfaces Science, College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China
4)
School of Resources, Environment and Materials, Guangxi University, Nanning 530004, China
5)
Department of Chemistry, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China
6)
China Railway Resource Group Co. Ltd, Beijing 102300, China

Corresponding authors:
Chenyang Zhang    E-mail: zhangchenyang@csu.edu.cn

Linlin Wu    E-mail: minengine@163.com

Songjiang Li    E-mail: chemwll@csu.edu.cn
Received: 22 February 2024; Revised: 14 May 2024; Accepted: 17 May 2024; Available online: 18 May 2024

Abstract

Abstract

The depression mechanism of sulfite ions on sphalerite and Pb²⁺ activated sphalerite in the flotation separation of galena from sphalerite still lacked in-depth insight. Therefore, the depression mechanism of sulfite ions on sphalerite and Pb²⁺ activated sphalerite in the flotation separation of galena from sphalerite was further systematically investigated by experiments and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. The X-ray photoelectric spectroscopy (XPS) results, DFT calculation results, and frontier molecular orbital analysis indicated that sulfite ions were difficult to adsorb on sphalerite, suggesting that sulfite ions achieved depression effects on sphalerite through other ways. First, the oxygen content on the surface of sphalerite treated with sulfite ions increased, which enhanced the hydrophilicity of the sphalerite and further increased the difference in hydrophilicity between sphalerite and galena. Then, sulfite ions were chelated with lead ions to form PbSO₃ in solution. The hydrophilic PbSO₃ was more easily adsorbed on sphalerite than galena. The interaction between sulfite ions and lead ions can effectively inhibit the activation of sphalerite by lead ions. In addition, the UV spectrum showed that after adding sulfite ions, the peak of perxanthate in the sphalerite treated xanthate solution was significantly stronger than that in the galena treated xanthate solution, indicating that xanthate interacts more readily with sulfite ions and oxygen molecules within the sphalerite system, leading to the formation of perxanthate. However, sulfite ions hardly depressed the flotation of galena and could promote the flotation of galena to some extent. This study deepened the understanding of the depression mechanism of sulfite ions on sphalerite and Pb²⁺ activated sphalerite.
- sphalerite;
- galena;
- sulfite ion;
- density functional theory;
- depression mechanism

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