Abstract
Measurements of the solubility and metastable zone width (MZW) of borax decahydrate in sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide aqueous were obtained. The onsets of nucleation were detected by the turbidity technique with the temperature range from 285 to 315 K. The results showed that the solubility of borax gradually decreased and the MZW broadened with the mass percentage of sodium carbonate increasing from 0% up to 9.22%. Correspondingly, the solubility and MZW had the same trend with the addition of sodium hydroxide. Meanwhile, the nucleation parameters of borax were determined and analysed to explain the trends obtained. Applying the classical three-dimensional nucleation theory approach, it was found that the addition of carbonate and hydroxide ions led to the values of solid–liquid interfacial energy (γ) increasing, which indicated the CO32− and OH− ions adsorbed on the nuclei but suppressed nucleation rate.
Highlights
Boron compounds have unique advantages in their porosity, density and thermal stability, leading to potential applications for hydrogen storage, filtration, catalysis and optoelectronics [1,2,3]
The obtained experimental solubility data are demonstrated graphically in figure 3. It can be observed in figure 3a that the solubility of borax increased with temperature, which can be attributed to the thermal motion of molecule
It can be seen that the solubility curves are roughly paralleled to each other, indicating that the increment of sodium carbonate causes a gradual decrement of borax solubility
Summary
Boron compounds have unique advantages in their porosity, density and thermal stability, leading to potential applications for hydrogen storage, filtration, catalysis and optoelectronics [1,2,3]. In geological formations, boron compounds have different kinds of existing forms, such as sassoline, borax, ulexite and colemanite [1]. There is a growing interest in the crystallization of liquid and solid boron due to their long-term exploitation [4]. Brine is a major source of boron supply, and borax decahydrate (Na2B4O7.10H2O) is a typical crystalline 2 product from brine [5]. For the investigation of crystallization of borax from brine, it is extremely important to know its solubility and MZW as functions of temperature and presence of other salts in the solution [6]
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