Different Aryl Thiourea Compounds as Flotation Collectors in a Lead–Zinc Sulfide Mixed System

The primary coexisting mineral with galena is sphalerite. Hence, it critical to selectively separate from sphalerite by flotation. In this work, thiourea and related derivatives as potential flotation collectors for separating were investigated. Thiourea its found be effective selective in batch studies of a single mineral, 1,1-diphenylthiourea (11DTA) emerging the best choice. Galena has superior floatability compared presence 11DTA, recovery difference between two minerals at pH 8 (where 11DTA concentration 5 × 10−6 mol/L) around 38%. This was revealed using artificial mixed minerals. Moreover, findings measurements adsorption amount, FTIR, zeta XPS that strong on yet relatively weak Additionally, DFT calculations demonstrated exhibits stronger hydrophilicity than galena, possessed better affinity galena.