The extracellular polymeric substances（EPS） of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans ATCC 23270,and iron and copper enclosed in EPS were extracted by ultrasonication and centrifugation methods to determine the interaction mechanism of Cu2＋,Fe3＋ and EPS during bioleaching chalcopyrite.Generally,Cu2＋ ions can stimulate bacteria to produce more EPS than Fe3＋ ions.The mass ratio of Fe3＋/Cu2＋ enclosed in EPS decreased gradually from about 4：1 to about 2：1 when the concentration of Cu2＋ ions increased from 0.01 to 0.04 mol/L.The amount of iron and copper bound together by EPS in ferrous-free 9K medium containing 1% chalcopyrite was about 2 times of that in 9K medium containing 0.04 mol/L Cu2＋ ions.It was inferred that the EPS with jarosites on the surface of chalcopyrite gradually acted as a weak diffusion barrier for Cu2＋,Fe3＋ ions transference during bioleaching chalcopyrite.
Extracellular polymeric substances （EPS） were extracted from Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans through sonication method associated with centrifugation, which was evaluated tentatively with 2-keto-3-deoxyoctonic acid （KDO） as the indicator of EPS by spectrophotometry. Then the effect of EPS of A. ferrooxidans on the adhesion on chalcopyrite and pyrite surfaces was studied through a series of comparative experiments. The untreated cells and EPS-free cells of A. ferrooxidans were mixed with EPS suspension, Fe^2＋ or Fe^3＋, respectively. The planktonic cells were monitored in 2 h during bioleaching. The results indicate that the presence of EPS on the cell is an important factor for the adhesion to chalcopyrite and pyrite. A decrease of attachment of A. ferrooxidans to minerals was produced by the deficiency of EPS, which can recover mostly when the EPS was re-added into the EPS-free cells. The restoring extent is more obvious in pyrite than in chalcopyrite. The extent of cell adhesion to chalcopyrite increased when EPS and Fe^3＋ added, and decreased when Fe^2＋ added, which imply the electrostatic interaction plays a main role in initial adhesion between bacteria and minerals and it is a driving force for bacteria to produce EPS probably as a result of regaining their attachment ability to copper sulphides.
The changes of pH,redox potential,concentrations of soluble iron ions and Cu^2＋ with the time of bioleaching chalcopyrite concentrates by acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans were investigated under the different conditions of initial total-iron amount as well as mole ratio of Fe（III） to Fe（II） in the solutions containing synthetic extracellular polymeric substances （EPS）.When the solution potential is lower than 650 mV （vs SHE）,the inhibition of jarosites to bioleaching chalcopyrite is not vital as EPS produced by bacteria can retard the contamination through flocculating jarosites even if concentration of Fe（III） ions is up to 20 g/L but increases with increasing the concentration of Fe（III） ions;jarosites formed by bio-oxidized Fe3＋ ions are more easy to adhere to outside surface of EPS space on chalcopyrite;the EPS layer with jarosites acts as a weak diffusion barrier to further rapidly create a high redox potential of more than 650 mV by bio-oxidizing Fe^2＋ ions inside and outside EPS space into Fe^3＋ ions,resulting in a rapid deterioration of ion diffusion performance of the EPS layer to inhibit bioleaching chalcopyrite severely and irreversibly.
