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

这个小型企业技术转让（STTR）二期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应用于采矿业的分离过程，用于将无用的脉石从所需的矿物颗粒中分离出来。第一阶段的工作已经证明了传感器膜的制备，可以测量浮选悬浮液中使用的捕收剂化学物质。这些传感器已被证明非常适合这些测量，因为它们不受浑浊度的影响，对收集器具有高选择性，并且不需要流外样品处理。该项目将利用由学术合作伙伴菲尔·布尔曼（Phil Buhlmann）引入的高选择性和抗污染的全氟聚合物膜。二期项目将优化传感膜的特性，提高离子传导性和鲁棒性。它还将评估影响传感器寿命的因素，并设计几个原型以在采矿作业中进行测试。这项研究的广泛影响是重大的，因为它将使采矿业的矿物回收方法更加可持续。具体而言，该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。这种方法有可能使美国铜工业更具竞争力，因为它减少了浪费的收集器，同时通过消除大约24吨不必要的化学物质排放来提高采矿的可持续性。除了这些好处之外，这个项目的多学科方面将训练学生的合成和分析技术，涉及化学、材料科学和工程的概念。

This Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase II 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. Phase I work has demonstrated the preparation of sensor membranes that permit the measurement of collector chemicals used in flotation suspensions. These sensors have been shown to be ideally suited for these measurements since they are not affected by turbidity, have high selectivity for collectors, 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 Phase II project will optimize the sensing membrane characteristics to improve ion conduction and robustness. It will also assess the factors that affect sensor lifetime and engineer several prototypes to test at mining operations.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, the 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 U.S. copper industry more competitive by reducing wasted collector while simultaneously improving mining sustainability by eliminating an estimated 24 tons 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.