Investigation on different behavior and mechanism of Ca(II) and Fe(III) adsorption on spodumene surface

Behavior and mechanism of Ca2+ and Fe3+ adsorption on spodumene surface were investigated by micro flotation tests, zeta potential measurements, and density functional theory (DFT) calculation methods. The micro flotation tests showed that Ca2+ and Fe3+ activated the flotation of spodumene remarkably. However, the effect of Fe3+ was more significant than that of Ca2+. Additionally, Fe3+ significantly changed the zeta potential of spodumene while Ca2+ showed a little change. Meanwhile, the calculated adsorption energy of Fe3+ on spodumene surface was much greater than that of Ca2+ indicating that Fe3+ is more apt to be adsorbed on spodumene surface than Ca2+. The value of bond population in Ca-O illustrated that the bond of Ca-O consists of partial covalent proportion and some ionic component. On the contrary, the bond of Fe-O showed a relatively strong covalent property. The partial density of states (PDOS) of free Ca/Fe and the reacted O atom on spodumene (110) surface before and after the adsorption showed that Fe 3d orbital and O 2p orbital formed hybridization. The density of states (DOS) near the Fermi level of spodumene surface after adsorption with Fe3+ was much stronger than that with Ca2+.