Effect of H2O2 and Ethylene Glycol on Molybdenite Dissolution in H2SO4 Solution

The leaching behavior of molybdenite was investigated in H2O2-H2SO4 solution in this paper. The results show that H2O2 was an effective oxidant for molybdenite leaching, but it had fast decomposition kinetics. A final molybdenum extraction of 73.0% was obtained under the experimental conditions of 0.5 mol/L H2SO4, 0.5 mol/L H2O2, and the fresh H2O2 addition enhanced molybdenum extraction from 73.0 to 94.5%. The leaching process was controlled by a mixture of surface reactions and diffusion, and the activation energy was 27.98 kJ/mol. Ethylene glycol enhanced molybdenum extraction and improved the stability of H2O2. Electrochemical studies suggested that the decomposition kinetics of H2O2 was faster than that of molybdenite oxidation, and ethylene glycol enhanced recovery by increasing the resistance of H2O2 decomposition and decreasing the resistance of molybdenite oxidation. XRD and XPS analysis confirmed that ethylene glycol did not alter the phase composition and the surface chemical statues of molybdenite.