The effects of five alkyl hydroxamates (hexyl hydroxamate (C₆), octyl hydroxamate (C₈), decyl hydroxamate (C₁₀), dodecyl hydroxamate (C₁₂) and tetra-decyl hydroxamate (C₁₄)) with different carbon chain lengths on the flotation behaviour of cassiterite have been studied by using theoretical and experimental methods. Microflotation tests results showed that increasing the carbon chain length improved the collecting abilities of hydroxamates for cassiterite under acidic to weak alkaline conditions. Adsorption measurements suggested that the adsorption amount of hydroxamic species on the cassiterite surface increased along with carbon chain length. Density functional theory (DFT) calculation results indicated that alkyl hydroxamates with a longer carbon chain have lower electronic stabilities and larger dipole moments. In the absence of H₂O molecules, hydroxamates with longer carbon chains easily absorbed on the SnO₂ surface by chelating 6-membered rings.H₂O molecules could spontaneously adsorb on the SnO₂ surface. Hydroxamates adsorbed on the hydroxylated SnO₂ surface via hydrogen bonding interaction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis revealed that hydroxamates adsorbed on cassiterite through physical interaction, thereby suggesting that the computational simulation results are reliable.

五种异羟肟酸烷基酯（异羟肟酸己酯（C ₆）、异羟肟酸辛酯（C ₈）、异羟肟酸癸酯（C ₁₀）、异羟肟酸十二烷基酯（C ₁₂）和异羟肟酸_十四烷基酯（C _{14 ）的作用})) 使用理论和实验方法研究了不同碳链长度对锡石浮选行为的影响。微浮选试验结果表明，在酸性到弱碱性条件下，增加碳链长度提高了异羟肟酸盐对锡石的捕集能力。吸附测量表明，随着碳链长度的增加，锡石表面异羟肟类物质的吸附量增加。密度泛函理论（DFT）计算结果表明，碳链较长的烷基异羟肟酸酯具有较低的电子稳定性和较大的偶极矩。在不存在 H ₂ O 分子的情况下，具有较长碳链的异羟肟酸盐很容易通过螯合 6 元环吸附在 SnO ₂表面上。₂ O 分子可以自发吸附在 SnO ₂表面。异羟肟酸盐通过氢键相互作用吸附在羟基化的 SnO ₂表面。X 射线光电子能谱 (XPS) 分析表明异羟肟酸盐通过物理相互作用吸附在锡石上，从而表明计算模拟结果是可靠的。