The hydroxylamine method involves the synthesis of a
new hydroxamic
acid collector, i.e., phenylpropyl hydroxamic acid (PHA), from methyl
cinnamic hydroxamic acid. Flotation test results show that PHA exhibits
good selective collection ability. The adsorption mechanism of PHA
is investigated using the zeta potential, Fourier transform infrared
spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The
results show that PHA formed a new Ca–O bond with Ca2+ on the fluorite surface via chemical adsorption. A new five-element
chelated hydroxamate group may have formed in Ca on the fluorite surface.
The PHA selectivity is fully explained via density functional theory
(DFT) calculations, and an adsorption model is established.