DFT study the adsorption of ethyl xanthate on the S-site of Cu-activated sphalerite (1 1 0) surface in the presence of water molecule

The research investigates whether the copper activation of sphalerite can result in the adsorption of xanthate on the S-site of sphalerite surface at the atomic level. The adsorption of ethyl xanthate (EX) molecule on the un-activated and Cu-activated sphalerite (1 1 0) surface in the presence of water molecule was conducted by using the density functional theory (DFT). The DFT results showed that there was little chemical interaction between EX and S atom of the un-activated sphalerite (1 1 0) surface. However, the copper activation of sphalerite changed the properties of S atom by inducing a strong covalent interaction between EX and the S atom. The EX molecule did not only adsorbed on the metal atom, but also adsorbed on the S-site. Keywords: Sphalerite, Copper activation, Xanthate adsorption, S-site

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC

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