SOME CHARACTERISTICS OF THE INTERACTION OF THE SULFHYDRYL COAGULANTS OF THE XANTHOGENATE AND DITHIOCARBAMATE CLASS WITH PYRITE AND ARSENOPYRITE

摘要

The sulfhydryl reagents are most widely used as coagulants in the commercial flotation of the nonferrous metal ores. The solidophilic group that is present in the composition of the molecules of these reagents is responsible for the ability of the reagent to form strong and weakly soluble compounds with the cations of the heavy nonferrous metals. The hydrocarbon chain determines the influence of the reagent on the hydrophobic properties of the solid surface. The increase of the capability of the xanthogenates for hydrophobization of the surface and the increase of their flotational activity with increase of the length of the hydrocarbon radical has been noted by various authors [1-3] for galenite, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, and chalcosine. We have obtained a similar relation for pyrite and arsenopyrite in evaluating the wettability on the basis of the magnitude of the force that is necessary to tear an air bubble from the surface of the mineral (Fig. 1). In these experiments the air bubble was located above the surface of the mineral, which was immersed in an aqueous solution of the reagent. Held with the aid of a hypodermic syringe on a holder, the bubble was brought to the surface of the mineral. After the forming of the three-phase wetting perimeter, the bubble was pulled away with the aid of a torsion balance, which was joined with the holder by a steel thread. The attachment and separation stages were observed in a microscope and were recorded on the scale of the torsion balance. The potassium xanthogenates were cleaned of the acetone by two-fold recrystallization with hexane and fed to a cuvette to a concentration of 50 mg/liter.