In-Situ Probing the Interface Electrochemical Properties of Chalcopyrite Modified by Amidoxime-Dithiocarbamate Ester: Implications to Flotation Mechanism

ABSTRACT

The adsorption of a conductive mineral toward a collector changes its interface electrochemical property, implying the hydrophobization mechanism of froth flotation. Herein, the interface electrical behavior of chalcopyrite was investigated by in situ scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM). And the results demonstrated that the treatment of N, N-diethyl-S-[2-amino-2-(hydroxyimino) ethyl] dithiocarbamate ester (DEAHEDTC) significantly reduced the tip feedback current i and heterogenous electron transfer rate constant k of chalcopyrite interface, implying the self-assembly of DEAHEDTC on chalcopyrite surface. The adsorption mechanism investigations further revealed that both DEAHEDTC’s C(=NOH)-NH₂ and N-C(=S) groups combined with the surface Cu atom(s) of chalcopyrite, leaving its hydrophobic groups outward against chalcopyrite. For the hydrophobic groups that are non-conducting, the electrochemical activity of chalcopyrite interface decreased. While the hydrophobization of DEAHEDTC returned a high flotation recovery of chalcopyrite particles.

KEYWORDS:

• In situ SECM
• electrochemical properties
• flotation mechanism
• chalcopyrite

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

CRediT authorship contribution statement

Jingjing Xiao: Investigation, Methodology, Data curation, Writing-original draft. Liu Yang: Supervision, Methodology, Writing-review & editing. Sheng Liu: Investigation, Methodology. Guangyi Liu: Funding acquisition, Conceptualization, Supervision, Methodology, Writing-review & editing.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [No. 22108114].