中国有色金属学报(英文版)
Transactions of Nonferrous Metals Society of China
| Vol. 26 No. 2 February 2016 |
（1. School of Minerals Processing and Bioengineering, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;
2. Key Laboratory of Biometallurgy, Ministry of Education, Central South University, Changsha 410083, China;
3. CSIRO Process Science and Engineering, Box 312, Clayton South, Victoria 3169, Australia）
Abstract:In order to investigate the enrichment of ferric iron bound by extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) on the mineral surface during bioleaching of chalcopyrite, several methods including sonication, heating and vortexing were used and sonication at 48 °C was shown as a good way to extract ferric iron. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (EDX) analysis showed that lots of cracks and pits can be found on the chalcopyrite surface after bioleaching and that iron oxide was filled in these cracks and pits. The variations of contents of ferric iron and EPS on the chalcopyrite surface were investigated. The results indicated that the content of EPS increased rapidly in the first 10 d and then maintained at a stable level, while ferric iron content increased all the time, especially in the later stage of bioleaching.
Key words: chalcopyrite; ferric iron; extracellular polymeric substance; extraction; sonication; bioleaching
