Research on the interaction between 1-butyl-2-mercaptobenzimidazole and pyrite

Abstract

The flotation desulfurization is generally used for the removal of sulfur impurities in the high sulfur bauxite. 1-butyl-2-mercaptobenzimidazole (DMBI) was synthesized and used as collector in the laboratory. The interactions between DMBI and pyrite with different adsorption time, solution pH, solution temperature and DMBI concentration were investigated in this work. Results show that the equilibrium adsorption time is 20 min, and the adsorption capacity decreases with increasing pH as well as temperature. With the increasing concentration, adsorption value increases and achieves the saturated adsorption. The adsorption of DMBI on pyrite is more consistent with Langmuir isothermal adsorption equation from 298.15 to 318.15 K. However, the adsorption is more fitted by the Freundlich isothermal adsorption equation at 288.15 K. Thermodynamic studies display that the adsorption of DMBI and pyrite is non-spontaneous and exothermic.