The selective flotation separation of galena from sphalerite with a novel collector of 5-amyl-1, 2, 4-triazole-3-thione

In this paper, 5-amyl-1,2,4-triazole-3-thione (ATT) was firstly applied as a collector in flotation separation of galena (PbS) from sphalerite (ZnS). Micro-flotation results demonstrated that ATT selectively floated out galena from its mixture with sphalerite at pH <= 10.5. FTIR (Fourier transform infrared), adsorption capacity and contact angle indicated that to increase the pulp pH from similar to 6.2 to 10.0 dramatically reduced the adsorption of ATT on sphalerite, while had an insignificant effect on its adsorption towards galena. In situ AFM (atomic force microscopy) recommended a monolayer adsorption of ATT on galena surfaces at pH similar to 6.2 and 10.0. FTIR and XPS (X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy) gave out unequivocal evidences that ATT chemisorbed onto galena through combining surface Pb(II) with ATT's exo-S to generate Pbsingle bondS bond, which orientated ATT's amyl group outward for attaching bubbles, thus to realize the hydrophobization flotation of galena particles. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.