Flotation and adsorption of a new collector α-Bromodecanoic acid on quartz surface

•A new modified collector α-Bromodecanoic acid was synthesized by solvent-free method.•Shorter chains, stronger electronegativity Br improved the activity and solubility.•Collecting recovery of the new collector on quartz reached 99.49% at temperature 16 °C.•Different adsorptions on the quartz was studied, especially the hydrogen adsorption.

A new type collector α-Bromodecanoic acid (CH3(CH2)7CHBrCOOH, α-BDA) was synthesized by solvent-free method (Hell–Volhard–Zelinski reaction) in laboratory for the flotation of quartz mineral at a relatively low temperature of 16 °C. The adsorption mechanism of α-BDA collector on quartz mineral surface was established by zeta potential measurements, contact angle measurements, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), in conjunction with the results of quartz micro-flotation tests. The flotation results showed that the activator Ca(II) functioned as an indispensable and crucial factor on the recovery of pure quartz. When the quartz was floated with α-BDA alone at strong alkaline conditions (pH ⩾ 11.50), the recovery rate reached to only 11.9%. However, when using the activator Ca(II) at a concentration of 4 × 10−4 mol/L, the collector exhibited an excellent performance, where about 99.5% of the quartz had been floated at or above pH value 11.50 at 16 °C. The study revealed that the α-BDA collector had adsorbed on the surface of pure quartz in the forms of electrostatic interaction, hydrogen bonding and chemical adsorption based on the results of zeta potential measurements, contact angle measurements, FT-IR spectra, and XPS.