Crystallization Kinetics of α-Hemihydrate Gypsum Prepared by Hydrothermal Method in Atmospheric Salt Solution Medium

α-Calcium sulfate hemihydrate (α-HH) is an important cementitious material, which can be prepared by hydrothermal method from calcium sulfate dihydrate (DH) in an electrolyte solution. Study of the conversion kinetics of DH to α-HH in NaCl solution is helpful for understanding the control process. I...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Zhongqi Wei, Qin Zhang, Xianbo Li
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2021-07-01
Series:Crystals
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4352/11/8/843
Description
Summary:α-Calcium sulfate hemihydrate (α-HH) is an important cementitious material, which can be prepared by hydrothermal method from calcium sulfate dihydrate (DH) in an electrolyte solution. Study of the conversion kinetics of DH to α-HH in NaCl solution is helpful for understanding the control process. In this paper, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were applied to study the effect of temperature on the crystallization kinetics of α-HH to determine the kinetic parameters. The research results show that the sigmoidal shape of the α-HH crystallization curve follows the Avrami-Erofeev model, which describes the crystallization kinetics of α-HH formation. Applying Arrhenius law in experimental data and model calculations, an apparent activation energy of 124 kJ/mol for nucleation and an apparent activation energy of 810 kJ/mol for growth were obtained. By adjusting the temperature of the solution, the number of α-HH nucleation and growth steps increases, which can effectively increase the DH-α-HH conversion rate in the NaCI solution.
ISSN:2073-4352