Understanding the Kinetics of Barium Sulfate Precipitation from Water and Water-Methanol Solutions

It is well understood that the solvent can affect precipitation kinetics, and all chemists are very familiar with the notion that adding an organic solvent to an aqueous solution induces the rapid precipitation of dissolved inorganic salts. The general explanation for this observation is that the so...

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Main Authors: Jones, Franca, Piana, Stefano, Gale, Julian
Format: Journal Article
Published: American Chemical Society 2008
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8285
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author Jones, Franca
Piana, Stefano
Gale, Julian
author_facet Jones, Franca
Piana, Stefano
Gale, Julian
author_sort Jones, Franca
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description It is well understood that the solvent can affect precipitation kinetics, and all chemists are very familiar with the notion that adding an organic solvent to an aqueous solution induces the rapid precipitation of dissolved inorganic salts. The general explanation for this observation is that the solubility of the salt in the organic/water mixture is lower than in pure water and therefore precipitation occurs. Here we study the kinetics and thermodynamics of precipitation of barium sulfate from water/methanol mixtures.It is shown that addition of an organic solvent to a water solution affects not only the thermodynamics but also the kinetics of the precipitation. The kinetics of precipitation in water/methanol mixtures is faster than in pure water. This is the opposite of what would be expected from classical nucleation theory. Molecular dynamics simulations show that nucleation proceeds through the formation of amorphous aggregates that are thermodynamically more stable than the crystalline phase. The formation of a crystalline nucleus involves the restructuring of the amorphous aggregates to form ordered particles. We suggest that this step can be ratelimiting for nucleation. The kinetics of crystallization for divalent salts in general are usually very similar; therefore, this result may be also valid for other salts of industrial or biological relevance.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-82852017-09-13T15:53:52Z Understanding the Kinetics of Barium Sulfate Precipitation from Water and Water-Methanol Solutions Jones, Franca Piana, Stefano Gale, Julian It is well understood that the solvent can affect precipitation kinetics, and all chemists are very familiar with the notion that adding an organic solvent to an aqueous solution induces the rapid precipitation of dissolved inorganic salts. The general explanation for this observation is that the solubility of the salt in the organic/water mixture is lower than in pure water and therefore precipitation occurs. Here we study the kinetics and thermodynamics of precipitation of barium sulfate from water/methanol mixtures.It is shown that addition of an organic solvent to a water solution affects not only the thermodynamics but also the kinetics of the precipitation. The kinetics of precipitation in water/methanol mixtures is faster than in pure water. This is the opposite of what would be expected from classical nucleation theory. Molecular dynamics simulations show that nucleation proceeds through the formation of amorphous aggregates that are thermodynamically more stable than the crystalline phase. The formation of a crystalline nucleus involves the restructuring of the amorphous aggregates to form ordered particles. We suggest that this step can be ratelimiting for nucleation. The kinetics of crystallization for divalent salts in general are usually very similar; therefore, this result may be also valid for other salts of industrial or biological relevance. 2008 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8285 10.1021/cg070110i American Chemical Society restricted
spellingShingle Jones, Franca
Piana, Stefano
Gale, Julian
Understanding the Kinetics of Barium Sulfate Precipitation from Water and Water-Methanol Solutions
title Understanding the Kinetics of Barium Sulfate Precipitation from Water and Water-Methanol Solutions
title_full Understanding the Kinetics of Barium Sulfate Precipitation from Water and Water-Methanol Solutions
title_fullStr Understanding the Kinetics of Barium Sulfate Precipitation from Water and Water-Methanol Solutions
title_full_unstemmed Understanding the Kinetics of Barium Sulfate Precipitation from Water and Water-Methanol Solutions
title_short Understanding the Kinetics of Barium Sulfate Precipitation from Water and Water-Methanol Solutions
title_sort understanding the kinetics of barium sulfate precipitation from water and water-methanol solutions
url http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/8285