Electrogenerative leaching for sphalerite-MnO2 in the presence of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans

摘要

A dual cell system was used to study the electrogenerative leaching sphalerite-MnO2 under the conditions of presence and absence of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans (A. ferrooxidans). The polarization of anode and cathode, and the relationship between the electric quantity (Q) and some factors, such as the dissolved Zn2+, Fe2+, the time in the bio-electro-generating simultaneous leaching (BEGSL) and electro-generating simultaneous leaching (EGSL), were studied. The results show that the dissolved Zn2+ in the presence of A. ferrooxidans is nearly 60% higher than that in the absence of A. ferrooxidans; the electrogenerative quantity in the former is about 134% more than that in the latter. A three-electrode system was applied to study anodic and cathodic self-corrosion current, which was inappreciable compared with the galvanic current between sphalerite and MnO2. The accumulated sulfur on the surface of sulfides produced in the electrogenerative leaching process could be oxidized in the presence of A. ferrooxidans, and the ratio of biological electric quantity reached to 31.72% in 72 h.