Thermal dehydration of monohydrocalcite: overall kinetics and physico-geometrical mechanisms

Monohydrocalcite (CaCO(3)·H(2)O: MHC) is similar in composition and synthetic conditions to hydrated amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC), which is focused recently as a key intermediate compound of biomineralization and biomimetic mineralization of calcium carbonate polymorphs. Detailed comparisons of the physicochemical property and reactivity of those hydrated calcium carbonates are required for obtaining fundamental information on the relevancy of those compounds in the mineralization processes. In the present study, kinetics of the thermal dehydration of spherical particles of crystalline MHC was investigated in view of physico-geometrical mechanism. The reaction process was traced systematically by means of thermogravimetry under three different modes of temperature program. A distinguished induction period for the thermal dehydration and cracking of the surface product layer on the way of the established reaction were identified as the characteristic events of the reaction. By interpreting the kinetic results in association with the morphological changes of the reactant particles during the course of reaction, it was revealed that nucleation and crystal growth of calcite regulate the overall kinetics of the thermal dehydration of MHC. In comparison with the thermal dehydration of hydrated ACC, which produces anhydrous ACC as the solid product, the kinetic characteristics of the thermal dehydration of MHC were discussed from the viewpoint of physico-geometry of the component processes.