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Separation of Copper and Iron from Chalcopyrite in Molten Salt

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Abstract

Around 84% of copper is produced from chalcopyrite through pyrometallurgical routes. However, iron is usually separated from copper matter and ends up in slags that produce secondary waste and wastes resources. Herein, molten salt is employed as a medium to separate chalcopyrite-derived copper-iron oxides. First, chalcopyrite was roasted to generate copper-iron oxide in the air. Then copper-iron oxide was thermo-decomposed into Cu2O and Fe3O4 in molten CaCl2–LiCl where Cu2O dispersed inside molten salt and Fe3O4 stayed at the bottom of molten salt. The mixture of Cu2O and Fe3O4 can be separated by magnetic separation. The molten salt served as the template to reduce the particle size of Cu2O below 500 nm, rendering Cu2O as a promising Li-ion battery anode that delivered a specific capacity of 242.2 mAh g−1 with a capacity retention rate of 86% after 300 cycles. Besides, both Cu2O and Fe3O4 can be employed as raw materials to produce copper and iron, as well as be used as energy storage materials, photocatalyst, sensor, etc.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (N2025035, N2025034); Xingliao Scholar Project (XLYC1807042); and the 111 Project (B16009).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory for Ecological Metallurgy of Multimetallic Mineral of Ministry of Education, School of Metallurgy, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, People’s Republic of China

    Haijia Zhao, Jiakang Qu, Zhuqing Zhao, Xiang Chen, Hongwei Xie & Huayi Yin

  2. School of Resource and Environmental Science, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, People’s Republic of China

    Huayi Yin

  3. Key Laboratory of Data Analytics and Optimization for Smart Industry, Ministry of Education, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, People’s Republic of China

    Huayi Yin

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  1. Haijia Zhao
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  2. Jiakang Qu
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Correspondence to Huayi Yin.

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Zhao, H., Qu, J., Zhao, Z. et al. Separation of Copper and Iron from Chalcopyrite in Molten Salt. J. Sustain. Metall. 8, 1340–1348 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-022-00575-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40831-022-00575-z

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