Triborate Formation Constants and Polyborate Speciation under Hydrothermal Conditions by Raman Spectroscopy using a Titanium/Sapphire Flow Cell

Abstract

Solvent-corrected reduced isotropic Raman spectra of aqueous boric acid + sodium borate solutions have been obtained from perpendicular and parallel polarization measurements in a novel custom-made titanium flow cell with sapphire windows over the temperature range 25 to 300 °C at 20 MPa using the perchlorate anion, ClO4-, as an internal standard. The reduced isotropic spectra of solutions yielded the first reported quantitative speciation results for polyborate ions in equilibrium with boric acid and borate in high-temperature aqueous solutions above 200 °C. The spectra obtained from solutions at low sodium/boron ratios, 0 < mNaST/ mBST < 0.254, displayed well-defined bands at 880, 747, 615, and 532 cm-1, corresponding to the species B(OH)3 > [B(OH)4]- > [B3O3(OH)4]- ≫ [B5O6(OH)4]-, respectively. The triborate ion, [B3O3(OH)4]-, was found to be the major polyborate species in these boric acid-rich solutions in the range 25 to 300 °C. Thermodynamic formation constants for the triborate species, [B3O3(OH)4]-, calculated from the peak areas, are in agreement with the literature values reported by Mesmer et al at 50, 100, and 200 °C to within the combined experimental uncertainties. At 300 °C, the value for the formation constant, log K31, m b= 2.259 ± 0.060, is larger than the value extrapolated from the results of Mesmer et al. by a factor of ∼3.