Crystallization kinetics of α-hemihydrate gypsum prepared by hydrothermal method in atmospheric salt solution medium

Abstract

α-Calcium sulfate hemihydrate (α-HH) is an important cementitious material, which can be prepared by hydrothermal method from calcium sulfate dihydrate (DH) in an electrolyte solution. Study of the conversion kinetics of DH to α-HH in NaCl solution is helpful for understanding the control process. In this paper, X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns were applied to study the effect of temperature on the crystallization kinetics of α-HH to determine the kinetic parameters. The research results show that the sigmoidal shape of the α-HH crystallization curve follows the Avrami-Erofeev model, which describes the crystallization kinetics of α-HH formation. Applying Arrhenius law in experimental data and model calculations, an apparent activation energy of 124 kJ/mol for nucleation and an apparent activation energy of 810 kJ/mol for growth were obtained. By adjusting the temperature of the solution, the number of α-HH nucleation and growth steps increases, which can effectively increase the DH-α-HH conversion rate in the NaCI solution.