Characterization of CaCO3 Formation Using an Ion Selective Electrode : Effects of the Mg/Ca Ratio and Temperature

The nucleation mechanism was studied using a calcium ion selective electrode (Ca ISE) to observe the formation of CaCO3, a representative mineral in the CO2 cycle, and to analyze the effect of the Mg/Ca-ratio and temperature on the formation of pre-nucleation cluster (PNC) and CaCO3. As a result of the experiment, a small amount of crystal was formed. Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) was used for surface element analysis, and a field emission scanning-electron microscope (FE-SEM) was used for the morphology analysis of synthesized carbonates. These results showed that various shapes of crys-talline CaCO3 (calcite, aragonite, etc.) were observed for each Mg/Ca ratio and temperature. In addition, the calibration plot obtained from Ca ISE showed information on the formation process of CaCO3. Our results showed that as magnesium ions interfered with the binding of calcium and carbonate ions and delayed the aggregation between PNCs, the nucleation and formation of CaCO3 were delayed. On the other hand, the temperature showed an opposite trend as compared to the effect of magnesium under our experimental conditions, indicating that temperature accelerated the formation of CaCO3. Furthermore, the morphology of CaCO3 clearly changed according to the Mg/Ca ratio and temperature, and it was confirmed that the two factors are very important for CaCO3 formation in that they could affect the overall process.