1. Introduction
Gold predominantly exists in its elemental state, typically found in quartz veins, sulfide mineral deposits, and placer deposits [
1]. Its economic value and significant role in industrial and technological sectors are well-recognized [
2]. Thorough research into gold extraction and purification techniques not only enhances resource utilization efficiency but also fosters sustainable development in related industries [
3]. The primary methods for gold beneficiation include gravity separation, flotation, cyanidation, and pyrometallurgy. Gravity separation is effective for coarse-grain gold ores, while flotation suits fine-grain gold ores. Cyanidation, a chemical extraction method, dissolves gold in cyanide solutions, and pyrometallurgy involves processes such as smelting and electrolysis [
4,
5].
Flotation, a highly efficient method for gold enrichment and recovery, depends critically on the choice and application of collectors [
6,
7]. Recent decades have seen notable advancements in research on gold flotation collectors, including sulfide collectors, amino acid collectors, and multifunctional composite collectors, all demonstrating superior efficacy in enhancing gold recovery and selectivity [
8,
9,
10]. Liu et al. [
11] investigated Diisobutyl Monothiophosphate as a collector in gold-pyrite flotation, achieving enhanced gold recovery while effectively suppressing pyrite. Oluwabunmi et al. [
12] utilized P-Xanthate and amino glycol as collectors, significantly boosting gold recovery in environments with a pH of 9.2. Tan et al. [
13] developed a novel collector, ZL4020, outperforming butyl xanthate in increasing gold recovery at the Da Hong Shan gold mine. Beattie et al. [
14] employed X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) to examine the chemisorbed geometries of MBT and DTP collectors on gold and gold-silver alloy surfaces, yielding profound insights into gold surface reactions. Acetylene-based collectors have garnered interest for their high reactivity, enabling strong chemical bonding with sulfides or other reactive sites on mineral surfaces, thereby enhancing mineral flotation performance, particularly in complex ore separation [
15]. It was hypothesized that the acetylene group’s hydrogen may interact with metals like Cu, Au, and Ag in aqueous solutions, forming organometallic compounds [
16]. Burdonov et al. [
17] explored a novel collector, 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol, showing promise in augmenting gold recovery from challenging-to-float sulfide minerals through electrostatic adsorption on pyrite surfaces. Yushina, T. I. [
18] applied the Molecular Mechanics (MM2) method to assess the selective fixation of acetylene-containing alcohol collectors, suggesting potential additional gold recovery rates of 2.4% to 5.0% from gold-bearing ores.
Recently, the increasing application of Density Functional Theory (DFT) in flotation research has offered fresh insights into the electronic structure of minerals and their flotation behavior. Liu et al. [
19] employed DFT to elucidate the molecular interaction mechanism of Diisobutyl Monothiophosphate as a collector in gold pyrite flotation. It revealed that this collector effectively binds to gold mineral surfaces, enhancing gold recovery rates. Yushina et al. [
18] investigated the electronic interaction mechanism of unsaturated tertiary alcohol collectors in gold sulphide ore flotation via DFT simulations. Results indicated that these collectors significantly enhance gold flotation selectivity.In conclusion, employing DFT in gold flotation research offers novel insights into the electronic structure of gold minerals and their flotation dynamics. DFT simulations enable researchers to delve into the interaction mechanisms between collectors [
20] and gold mineral surfaces, facilitating the design of more efficient and selective flotation collectors [
21].
The motivation of this work is to unveil the mechanism of a thioester collector with an acetylene group, PDEC (prop-2-yn-1-yl diethylcarbamodithioate), on the Au(1 1 1) [
22] surface using Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations [
23].To further this investigation, the Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO), Lowest Unoccupied Molecular Orbital (LUMO) [
23], and Fukui function [
24] were applied to distinguish and highlight the unique attributes and superiorities of PDEC over other non-ionic thioester collectors. Moreover, the reaction mechanism was meticulously analyzed through the adsorption energy of the collector molecules on the Au surface, the Partial Density of States (PDOS) [
25,
26], and the difference density. Subsequently, Adsorption experiments on gold powder were performed to corroborate the DFT adsorption energy findings. This study contributes novel perspectives on the adsorption mechanisms of acetylene-based collectors on Au surfaces and is instrumental in guiding the development of innovative collectors for gold.
Figure 1.
Used Au slab in the CASTEP calculations (where golden yellow spheres represent Au atoms, respectively).
Figure 1.
Used Au slab in the CASTEP calculations (where golden yellow spheres represent Au atoms, respectively).
Figure 2.
Optimized structures of the investigated (A) PDEC, (B) Z-200, (C) Al-DECDT(where yellow, gray, blue, red, white spheres represent S, C, N, O, H atoms, respectively).
Figure 2.
Optimized structures of the investigated (A) PDEC, (B) Z-200, (C) Al-DECDT(where yellow, gray, blue, red, white spheres represent S, C, N, O, H atoms, respectively).
Figure 3.
HOMO of the (A) PDEC,(D) Z-200 and (G) Al-DECDT clusters, LUMO of the (B) PDEC,(E) Z-200 and (H) Al-DECDT clusters, LUMO+1 of the (C) PDEC,(F) Z-200 and (I) Al-DECDT clusters (where yellow, gray, blue, red, white spheres represent S, C, N, O, H atoms, respectively).
Figure 3.
HOMO of the (A) PDEC,(D) Z-200 and (G) Al-DECDT clusters, LUMO of the (B) PDEC,(E) Z-200 and (H) Al-DECDT clusters, LUMO+1 of the (C) PDEC,(F) Z-200 and (I) Al-DECDT clusters (where yellow, gray, blue, red, white spheres represent S, C, N, O, H atoms, respectively).
Figure 4.
Adsorption configuration of (A) PDEC, (B) Z-200, (C) Al-DECDT on the Au (1 1 1) surface, (where golden yellow, yellow, gray, blue, red, white spheres represent Au, S, C, N, O, H atoms, respectively).
Figure 4.
Adsorption configuration of (A) PDEC, (B) Z-200, (C) Al-DECDT on the Au (1 1 1) surface, (where golden yellow, yellow, gray, blue, red, white spheres represent Au, S, C, N, O, H atoms, respectively).
Figure 5.
Density of states between PDEC on the Au(1 1 1) surface before and after interaction.
Figure 5.
Density of states between PDEC on the Au(1 1 1) surface before and after interaction.
Figure 6.
Electron density difference of PDEC adsorbed on the Au (1 1 1) surface, (a) electron density difference of the S atom in PDEC’s carbon-sulfur group on the Au (1 1 1) surface; (b) electron differential density of PDEC’s acetylene group on the Au (1 1 1) surface.
Figure 6.
Electron density difference of PDEC adsorbed on the Au (1 1 1) surface, (a) electron density difference of the S atom in PDEC’s carbon-sulfur group on the Au (1 1 1) surface; (b) electron differential density of PDEC’s acetylene group on the Au (1 1 1) surface.
Figure 7.
Adsorption quantity of PDEC, Z-200, and Al-DECDT on gold powder surfaces as a function of concentration.
Figure 7.
Adsorption quantity of PDEC, Z-200, and Al-DECDT on gold powder surfaces as a function of concentration.
Table 1.
The magnitude of bond length and the Mullinken population of collectors.
Table 1.
The magnitude of bond length and the Mullinken population of collectors.
Collectors |
Bond length (Å) |
Mullinken population of bond |
Mullinken population of atom charge |
PDEC |
C1-S2 |
C1-S2 |
S2 |
C1 |
N7 |
S3 |
C23 |
1.669 |
0.90 |
-0.14 |
-0.17 |
-0.27 |
0.23 |
-0.38 |
Z-200 |
C3-S4 |
C3-S4 |
S4 |
C3 |
N5 |
O2 |
|
1.651 |
0.94 |
-0.19 |
0.22 |
-0.55 |
-0.41 |
|
Al-DECDT |
C1-S2 |
C1-S2 |
S2 |
C1 |
N7 |
S3 |
C24 |
1.664 |
0.90 |
-0.15 |
-0.17 |
-0.26 |
0.18 |
-0.62 |
Table 2.
Frontline orbital energy of collectors.
Table 2.
Frontline orbital energy of collectors.
Collectors |
Frontline orbital energy (eV) |
HOMO |
LUMO |
LUMO+1 |
PDEC |
-4.708 |
-2.077 |
-0.608 |
Z-200 |
-4.515 |
-0.812 |
0.510 |
Al-DECDT |
-4.456 |
-1.942 |
-0.895 |
Table 3.
Fukui function of collectors.
Table 3.
Fukui function of collectors.
Collectors |
Atoms |
fw+
|
fw-
|
PDEC |
S2 |
0.280 |
0.421 |
C1 |
0.079 |
0.017 |
N7 |
0.039 |
0.026 |
S3 |
0.158 |
0.154 |
C23 |
0.102 |
0.081 |
Z-200 |
S4 |
0.365 |
0.572 |
C3 |
0.154 |
0.078 |
N5 |
0.052 |
0.028 |
O2 |
0.064 |
0.013 |
Al-DECDT |
S2 |
0.266 |
0.414 |
C1 |
0.068 |
0.019 |
N7 |
0.040 |
0.026 |
S3 |
0.138 |
0.161 |
C24 |
0.065 |
0.034 |
Table 4.
The adsorption energy calculation and bond length of collectors on Au(1 1 1).
Table 4.
The adsorption energy calculation and bond length of collectors on Au(1 1 1).
Collectors |
Adsorption energy (KJ/ mol) |
S-Au bond length (Å) |
PDEC |
-71.46259119 |
2.580 |
Z-200 |
-58.05373004 |
2.521 |
Al-DECDT |
-59.43253585 |
2.557 |
Table 5.
Mulliken populations of PDEC atom and Au (1 1 1) atom before and after PDEC adsorbed on the Au (1 1 1) surface.
Table 5.
Mulliken populations of PDEC atom and Au (1 1 1) atom before and after PDEC adsorbed on the Au (1 1 1) surface.
Atomic label |
Adsorption status |
s |
p |
d |
Charge/e |
S |
Before adsorption |
1.83 |
4.31 |
0.00 |
-0.14 |
After adsorption |
1.83 |
4.17 |
0.00 |
0.00 |
Au(Au-S) |
Before adsorption |
0.91 |
0.53 |
9.65 |
-0.09 |
After adsorption |
0.85 |
0.72 |
9.62 |
-0.18 |
C |
Before adsorption |
1.15 |
3.23 |
0.00 |
-0.38 |
After adsorption |
1.17 |
3.19 |
0.00 |
-0.36 |
Au(Au-C) |
Before adsorption |
0.91 |
0.53 |
9.65 |
-0.09 |
After adsorption |
0.83 |
0.46 |
9.63 |
0.08 |