A novel selective collector MIBATC and its performance on flotation separation of chalcopyrite from sphalerite and pyrite

In this study, a novel collector, named O-methylisobutyl-N-allyl thionocarbamate (MIBATC) was synthesized and characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometer (FTIR), ¹³C NMR, ¹H NMR analysis. The flotation behavior of MIBATC was investigated by flotation experiments and interaction mechanism was conducted by adsorption amount, zeta potential, FTIR, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) measurements and density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Flotation results demonstrated that MIBATC appeared powerful collecting ability to chalcopyrite against sphalerite and pyrite. The recovery of chalcopyrite was more than 80 % with pH of 9.5–10 and MIBATC concentrate of 30–40 mg/L. Adsorption amount and zeta potential measurements showed a tendency that MIBATC exhibited more affinities for the chalcopyrite compared with sphalerite and pyrite. FTIR and XPS analysis provided the evidence that MIBATC chemisorbed on chalcopyrite surface of Cu site, whereas physisorbed on sphalerite and pyrite surface. Specially, DFT reconfirmed the fact that S atom in MIBATC donated electrons to Cu on chalcopyrite surface and the adsorption energy was −21.67 kcal/mol, regarding as an exothermic reaction. These findings provided evidence for superior separating chalcopyrite from sphalerite and pyrite in the presence of MIBATC.