Practical insights into the recycling of green mussel shells (Perna Viridis) for the production of precipitated calcium carbonate

ABSTRACT

The study presented a powder processing method involving calcination and subsequent carbonation in the synthesis of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) for recycling green mussel shells, which contain a high calcium carbonate content. The purity of portlandite [Ca(OH)₂] as a result of calcination and subsequent moisture absorption during storage was verified using the XRD-Rietveld method. Further quantitative XRD Rietveld analysis of the PCC product confirmed the presence of vaterite (55.20 wt.%) and calcite (44.80 wt.%) minerals after carbonation process of the calcined powder product. The SEM examination of this product revealed particle aggregates of non-uniform polyhedral and cubical grains of varying small and large sizes. The FTIR analysis also confirmed that calcination and subsequent hydration of mussel shell powder yielded pure portlandite, whereas the carbonation yielded PCC polymorphism. As a result, this powder processing method is simple to scale and reduces the cost of PCC synthesis, which is critical for practical applications. The current study demonstrated that the powder processing method for recycling green mussel shells as starting materials in biomedical applications is technically feasible.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Green mussel shells
• calcium carbonate
• calcite
• vaterite
• calcination

Acknowledgment

The Diponegoro University Grants Commission is highly appreciated for awarding the world-class university research (WCUR) Grant-No: 118-32/UN7.6.1/PP/2022 to conduct this research work.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Declaration of competing interest

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Availability of data

The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article.

Additional information

Funding

The Diponegoro University Grants Commission is highly appreciated for awarding the world-class university research (WCUR) [grant number 118-32/UN7.6.1/PP/2022] to conduct this research work.