Kaolinite can be used as the in-furnace sorbent/additive to adsorb lead (Pb) vapor at high temperature. In this paper, the adsorptions of Pb atom, PbO molecule and PbCl2 molecule on kaolinie surfaces were investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculation. Si surface is inert to Pb vapor adsorption while Al surfaces with dehydroxylation are active for the unsaturated Al atoms and the O atoms losing H atoms. The adsorption energy of PbO is much higher than that of Pb atom and PbCl2. Considering the energy barriers, it is easy for PbO and PbCl2 to adsorb on Al surfaces but difficult to escape. The high energy barriers of de-HCl process cause the difficulties of PbCl2 to form PbO center dot Al2O3 center dot 2SiO(2) with kaolinite. Considering the inertia of Si atoms and the activity of Al atoms after dehydroxylation, calcination, acid/alkali treatment and some other treatment aiming at amorphous silica producing and Al activity enhancement can be used as the modification measures to improve the performance of kaolinite as the in-furnace metal capture sorbent. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.