Bioleaching of chalcopyrite with different crystal phases by Acidianus manzaensis

Bioleaching of chalcopyrite with different crystal structures (α-phase,β-phase and γ-phase) by Acidianus manzaensis was comparatively studied by synchrotron radiation based X-ray diffraction (SR-XRD) and S K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy. The α-phase,β-phase and γ-phase chalcopyrite was prepared by heating original chalcopyrite at 583, 773 and 848 K, respectively. Bioleaching results showed that [Cu^2+] in the leaching solution of α-phase,β-phase,γ-phase and original chalcopyrite after 10 days of bioleaching was 1.27, 1.86, 1.43 and 1.13 g/L, respectively, suggesting that β-phase had a better leaching kinetics than others. SR-XRD and XANES results indicated that jarosite and chalcopyrite were the main components in the leaching residues in all cases, and elemental sulfur formed in the early stage of bioleaching. While for β-phase and γ-phase chalcopyrite during bioleaching, bornite was produced in the initial stage of leaching, and turned into chalcocite on day 6.

Relatedness between catalytic effect of activated carbon and passivation phenomenon during chalcopyrite bioleaching by mixed thermophilic Archaea culture at 65°C

The relatedness between catalytic effect of activated carbon and passivation phenomenon during chalcopyrite bioleachingby mixed thermophilic Archaea culture(Acidianus brierleyi,Metallosphaera sedula,Acidianus manzaensis and Sulfolobusmetallicus)at65°C was studied.Leaching experiments showed that the addition of activated carbon could significantly promote thedissolution of chalcopyrite for both bioleaching and chemical leaching.The results of synchrotron-based X-ray diffraction,ironL-edge and sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption near edge structure spectroscopy indicated that activated carbon could change thetransition path of electrons through galvanic interactions to form more readily dissolved secondary mineral chalcocite at a low redoxpotential(?400mV)and then enhanced the copper dissolution.Jarosite accumulated immediately in the initial stage of bioleachingwith activated carbon but copper dissolution was not hindered.However,much jarosite precipitated on the surface of chalcopyrite inthe late stage of bioleaching,which might account for the decrease of copper dissolution rate.More elemental sulfur(S0)was alsodetected with additional activated carbon but the mixed thermophilic Archaea culture had a great sulfur oxidation activity,thus S0waseliminated and seemed to have no significant influence on the dissolution of chalcopyrite.

Amorphous ferric oxide as a hole-extraction and transfer layer on nanoporous bismuth vanadate photoanode for water oxidation

An amorphous ferric oxide layer was prepared on a bismuth vanadate photoanode.This resulted in improved charge carrier separation and surface catalytic performance compared with the photoanode without the oxide layer.The photocurrent of the oxide‐layer‐containing photoanode was2.52mA/cm2at1.23V versus the reversible hydrogen electrode,in potassium phosphate buffer,(0.5mol/L,pH=7.0).The amorphous ferric oxide layer on the photoanode contained low‐valence‐state iron species(FeII),which enabled efficient hole extraction and transfer.