The hydrophobic force for bubble–particle attachment in flotation – a brief review

A deep understanding of the bubble-particle attachment is critical to flotation science and engineering. Historically, the so called "hydrophobic force" has been widely accepted to be the reason for bubble-particle attachment although its origin is still under debate now. In this paper, a number of representative mechanisms for the origin of hydrophobic attractions are reviewed, with the main focus being on solid-solid systems. Then we highlight the recent advances in the hydrophobic force measurement between bubble and particle. Quantitative description of the hydrophobic force in bubble-particle system has been achieved recently. This review is closed with a brief conclusion and perspective discussion.