Investigating the adsorption performances and hydrophobic mechanism of O-ethyl-N-benzoyl thionocarbamate on chalcopyrite surface.

[Display omitted] • A novel thionocarbamate collector (EBZTC) containing acyl group was synthesized. • The adsorption performances of EBZTC on chalcopyrite surface were investigated. • The hydrophobic mechanism of EBZTC on chalcopyrite particle surface was proposed. • EBZTC exhibited excellent flotation ability for chalcopyrite. The flotation performance and hydrophobic mechanism of O-ethyl-N-benzoyl thionocarbamate (EBZTC) on chalcopyrite were first estimated by single flotation experiments, batch adsorption experiments, contact angle measurements, DFT calculation and FTIR analysis. Single flotation experiments illustrated that a flotation recovery of 96.7% was achieved to chalcopyrite when EBZTC was used compared to 90% with SIBX at pH 6.5. Adsorption experiments indicated that the adsorption process of EBZTC on chalcopyrite surface was an exothermic monolayer chemisorption process. Hydrophobic mechanism demonstrated that EBZTC chemisorbed onto the chalcopyrite surface through the chemical reactions of C O and C S groups to the copper species with the formation of C O Cu and C S Cu bonds, which resulted in the coverage of the hydrophobic groups of EBZTC onto the chalcopyrite surface to enhance its hydrophobicity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]