STTR Phase I: Chemical Sensors for In situ Monitoring of Collector Chemicals in Complex Copper Mine Effluents

该奖项是根据2009年美国复苏和再投资法案（公法111-5）资助的。该小企业技术转让（STTR）第一阶段项目解决了泡沫浮选未满足的分析需求，泡沫浮选是一种广泛用于采矿业的分离工艺，用于将无用的脉石与所需的矿物颗粒分离。该阶段I的目标是制备允许测量浮选悬浮液中使用的捕收剂化学品的传感器。我们提出的传感器预计将非常适合这些测量，因为它们不受浊度的影响，具有可以用特定受体调节的收集器选择性，并且不需要离线样品处理。该项目将利用学术合作伙伴Phil Buhlmann介绍的高选择性和抗污染的全氟聚合物膜。这项研究的广泛影响是重要的，因为它将使采矿业在矿物回收方面更具可持续性。 具体而言，我们的研究旨在显著减少与泡沫浮选相关的有毒化学废物的数量及其不可避免的环境影响。该方法有可能使美国铜行业更具竞争力，节省超过2亿美元的废物收集器，同时通过消除估计891，000公斤不必要的化学排放来提高采矿的可持续性。 除了这些好处，该项目的多学科方面将培养学生的合成和分析技术，涉及化学，材料科学和工程的概念。研究生将有机会通过指导研究和UMN的NSF-REU课程指导参与该项目的本科生。

This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I project addresses unmet analysis needs of froth flotation, a separations process widely used in the mining industry to separate worthless gangue from desired mineral particles. The goal of this Phase I is the preparation of sensors that permit the measurement of collector chemicals used in flotation suspensions. Our proposed sensors are expected to be ideally suited for these measurements since they are not affected by turbidity, have a collector selectivity that can be tuned with specific receptors, and require no off-stream sample handling. The project will take advantage of the highly selective and fouling-resistant fluorous perfluoropolymer membranes introduced by the academic partner Phil Buhlmann. The broader impacts of this research are significant as it will enable the mining industry to be more sustainable in its approach to mineral recovery. Specifically, our research aims to significantly reduce the amount of toxic chemical waste associated with froth flotation and its inevitable environmental impact. The method has the potential of making the US copper industry more competitive by saving over $200 M in wasted collector while simultaneously improving mining sustainability by eliminating an estimated 891,000 kg of unnecessary chemical discharges. In addition to these benefits, the multidisciplinary aspects of this project will train students in synthetic and analytical techniques, involving concepts from chemistry, materials science, and engineering. A graduate student will have the opportunity to mentor an undergraduate students involved in this project through directed research studies and through the NSF-REU programs at the UMN.