Utilizing an efficient activator is an efficient solution to overcome the low recovery flotation of zinc oxide ore. We proposed amino acids as new high-efficiency biological activators for zinc oxide ore flotation and systematically studied the effects of amino acids as activators in the flotation of zinc oxide ore. Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations were conducted to reveal the activation mechanism of amino acids in smithsonite flotation. The results showed that tryptophan (Trp) significantly promoted the floatability of smithsonite by coordinating with zinc sites on the surface of smithsonite. The addition of Trp broke the Zn-O bonds in the crystal and exposed more highly active Zn on the crystal surface, which easily reacted with sodium oleate. At the same time, Trp increased the concentration of Zn in the pulp, and an appropriate amount of Zn in the solution owned a certain activation effect, which finally improved the adsorption of NaOL on the surface of smithsonite. DFT showed that Trp interacted strongly with smithsonite, and the carboxyl O atom of Trp coordinated with Zn on the surface of smithsonite.

中文翻译：

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可生物降解活化剂小分子有机酸在菱锌矿浮选中的应用及机理

使用高效活化剂是克服氧化锌矿石浮选回收率低的有效解决方案。我们提出氨基酸作为氧化锌矿浮选的新型高效生物活化剂，并系统研究了氨基酸作为活化剂在氧化锌矿浮选中的作用。通过傅里叶变换红外光谱（FTIR）、X射线光电子能谱（XPS）、原子力显微镜（AFM）和密度泛函理论（DFT）计算揭示了菱锌矿浮选中氨基酸的活化机制。结果表明，色氨酸（Trp）通过与菱锌矿表面的锌位点配位，显着促进菱锌矿的可浮性。 Trp的加入破坏了晶体中的Zn-O键，使晶体表面暴露出更多活性较高的Zn，很容易与油酸钠发生反应。同时，Trp提高了矿浆中Zn的浓度，溶液中适量的Zn具有一定的活化作用，最终提高了NaOL在菱锌矿表面的吸附。 DFT表明Trp与菱锌矿有强烈的相互作用，且Trp的羧基O原子与菱锌矿表面的Zn配位。