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

这个小企业技术转让（STTR）第二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。 第一阶段的工作已经证明了传感器膜的制备，允许测量浮选悬浮液中使用的捕收剂化学品。 这些传感器已被证明非常适合这些测量，因为它们不受浊度的影响，对收集器具有高选择性，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。 二期项目将优化传感膜特性，以提高离子传导性和稳健性。 它还将评估影响传感器寿命的因素，并设计几个原型在采矿作业中进行测试。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，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。 该方法有可能通过减少浪费的收集器使美国铜行业更具竞争力，同时通过消除估计24吨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。

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.