Characterization of gypsum crystals exposed to a high CO2 concentration fog using x-ray

Abstract

In Chihuahua State, a little town called Naica has the largest gypsum single crystals in the world. The growth of these structures has been described as a long and stable process developed over thousands of years. Due to the change in the environmental conditions, these crystals could suffer alterations on their surface. In this project we study the cause of possible deterioration of the giant crystals and intend to suggest measures for their preservation. For this sake, our first experiment consists on several gypsum crystals that have been subjected in a climate chamber to a fog at high CO2 concentration and 51 °C for a period of time of six months, extracting two crystals every 15 days. Then the crystals have been characterized through Grazing Incidence X-Ray Diffraction using a diffractometer PanAlytical X'PertPro with two different detectors; Xe-filled proportional detector and a Pixel 3D detector. The results were compared to determine which technique is the most suitable to study the degradation of gypsum single crystals. In the two cases, we have identified only the gypsum phase, but with different crystal plane orientations.