Copper sulfate, the appearance of blue or blue-green crystal, it is a widely used activator in sulfide ore flotation, mainly used as an activator, regulator and inhibitor, adjust the pH value of the slurry, control the formation of foam and improve the surface potential of the mineral, sphalerite, stibnite, pyrite and pyrrhotite have an activation effect, especially for the sphalerite inhibited by lime or cyanide has a good activation effect.
The role of copper sulphate in beneficiation flotation:
1. Used as an activator
It is able to change the electrical properties of the mineral surface and make the mineral surface hydrophilic. This hydrophilicity can increase the contact area of the mineral with the water, making it easier for the mineral to float. Copper sulfate can also form cations in the slurry, which are further adsorbed on the surface of the mineral, increasing its hydrophilicity and buoyancy.
The activation mechanism includes the following two aspects:
A metathesis reaction occurs on the surface of the activated mineral to form an activated film. For example, sphalerite is activated with copper sulfate. The radius of the divalent copper ion is similar to that of the zinc ion, and the solubility of copper sulfide is much smaller than that of zinc sulfide, so a thin film of copper sulfide can be formed on the surface of sphalerite. After the copper sulfide film is formed, it can easily interact with xanthate collectors, so that the sphalerite can be activated.
The inhibitor is removed first, and then the activated membrane is generated. **When sphalerite is inhibited, a stable zinc cyanide ion is formed on the surface of the sphalerite, and the copper cyanide ion is more stable than the zinc cyanide ion. If copper sulfate is added to the sphalerite slurry inhibited by cyanide, the cyanide root on the surface of sphalerite falls off, and the free copper ions react with sphalerite to form an activated film of copper sulfide, which activates sphalerite.
2. Used as a regulator
The pH value of the slurry can be adjusted. At the appropriate pH value, copper sulfate can react with hydrogen ions on the surface of the mineral to form chemicals that bind to the surface of the mineral, increasing the hydrophilicity and buoyancy of the mineral, thereby promoting the effect of gold flotation.
3. Used as an inhibitor
Anions can be formed in the slurry and adsorbed on the surface of other minerals that do not require flotation, reducing their hydrophilicity and buoyancy, so as to avoid these minerals being floated together with ** minerals. Copper sulphate inhibitors are usually added to the slurry to keep minerals that do not require flotation at the bottom.
4. Used as a mineral surface modifier
Alter the chemical and physical properties of mineral surfaces. In gold flotation, the electrical properties and hydrophilicity of the mineral surface are the key flotation factors. Copper sulfate can form copper oxide ions in the slurry, which react with metal ions on the surface of the mineral and change its surface chemistry. Copper sulphate can also change the hydrophilicity of the mineral surface and increase the contact area between the mineral and the water, thereby promoting the flotation effect of gold ore.