Insights into the interaction between octyl hydroxamic acid and the rutile surface activated by lead ion

The flotation of rutile can be enhanced using lead ion as an activator. However, the binding behavior of collector on the activated rutile surface is still not fully understood. In this work, flotation and theoretical calculation approaches were employed to evaluate the activation behavior of lead ion in the flotation of rutile with octyl hydroxamic acid (OHA). Flotation results indicated that the activation flotation with lead ion should be conducted at pH 6.5. The binding features of OHA molecule on the inactivated and Pb-activated rutile surfaces were both investigated by density functional theory (DFT) studies. The OHA molecule may dissociate into OHA− anion on the inactivated rutile surface, generating a new Ti–O bond. Differently, the chelate complex of Pb-OHA anion was generated on the activated rutile surface, producing two Pb–O bonds. The adsorption of OHA onto the activated rutile surface was more stable than that on the inactivated rutile surface, due to the formation of more chemical bonds on the activated rutile surface. The DFT calculation results delineated the role of Pb2+ in the rutile flotation with OHA.