Investigation of calcium carbonate crystalization in the presence of propionic acid

CaCO3 properties such as crystal structure, whiteness, chemical purity, specific surface area, particle size distribution and morphology are of great importance in industrial applications. Therefore, it is important to understand and control the different types of CaCO3 crystals formed during crystallization. As far as is known, factors responsible for the crystallization process such as temperature, type of reactant, pH, initial concentration and supersaturation play a role in the crystallization of CaCO3. Apart from all these factors, it is observed that the morphology of CaCO3 changes in the presence of barium, strontium and magnesium ions, graphene oxide, bovine serum albumin and polydopamine, selenic acid, arsenic acid and silicic acid and various amino acid species. In this study, the effects of propionic acid, which is used as an additive in the synthesis of CaCO3 crystals from calcium chloride and sodium sulfate solutions, were investigated. In addition, the effects of temperature and reactant concentration on CaCO3 crystal morphology and size in the presence of propionic acid were revealed by SEM, XRD and BET analyzes. As a result, it was revealed that the crystals formed with the increasing concentration of propionic acid as an additive in the CaCO3 crystallization process caused the transformation from calcite to vaterite. This transformation in the crystal structure brings with it an increase in the BET specific surface area. One of the findings obtained is that increasing propionic acid concentration inhibits crystallization.