The precipitation of calcium carbonate via a bubbling method in the presence of Mg²⁺ and glucose

Abstract

The effect of Mg²⁺ on the crystallization of precipitated calcium carbonate (PCC) via a bubbling carbonation method and the mechanism of eliminating its influence by glucose were investigated. The polymorph and morphology of crystals were characterized by field emission-scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. These results demonstrated that Mg²⁺ and Mg/Ca molar ratio played significant roles on the morphology of PCC. When the Mg/Ca molar ratio was below 0.5, only spindle-like calcite formed. The rod-like aragonite started to form when the ratio was 0.6. As the ratio increased, the amount of aragonite increased and the length of rod-like aragonite became longer. Notably, the effect of Mg²⁺ could be eliminated efficiently when the 1.5 wt% glucose was added into the carbonation system, in which system, the PCC crystals were all spindle-like calcite. Furthermore, the mechanism of the glucose to eliminate the influence of Mg²⁺ on PCC crystallization was proposed.

Keywords:

• Carbonation
• crystallization mechanism
• glucose
• magnesium ion
• precipitated calcium carbonate

Disclosure statement

There is no conflict of interest to declare.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Zhejiang Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. ZJNSF- LY18B060015) and Shanxi Jinpin Application of calcium carbonate Technology Co., Ltd., China.