Effect of the particle size on the reactivity of MgO-Al2O3 hydrating mixtures: A long-term kinetic investigation of hydrotalcite synthesis

Abstract Hydrotalcite-like compounds (HTlc) are commonly known anionic clay that may potentially be used as hydraulic binder component for refractory materials, ion exchangers, catalyst or carrier of bioactive molecules. According to current state of knowledge LDH (Layered Double Hydroxides) can be synthesized using various methods including mechanochemical synthesis, hydrothermal precipitation, sol–gel syntheses and coprecipitation method. Research on the synthesis of hydrotalcite in the mixture of oxide powders of Al2O3 and MgO cured under specific conditions is particularly important in case of the determination of the relationship between the type (susceptibility to hydration, grain size and specific surface area) of initial powders and reaction kinetics. As a result, the hydration of an equimolar mixture of magnesium and alumina oxides nano- or micro-powders has been proven to be an effective low temperature method of synthesis well crystallized Mg Al LDH with highly ordered structures. This investigations clearly show that the kinetics of hydration is influenced only by properties of aluminium oxide as initial powder. The synthesis of Mg6Al2CO3(OH)16∙4H2O as a result of hydration is associated with composite matrix formation which firstly consist of partly reacted initial powders bonded by hydration products. The synthesis of Mg6Al2CO3(OH)16∙4H2O was discussed in terms of molar Gibbs free energy change of reactions within the MgO-Al2O3-CO2-H2O system. The calculated formation Gibbs energy was negative, when Mg(OH)2 was formed as an intermediate product. The standard Gibbs free energies of hydrotalcite formation was estimated based on the simple mechanical mixture model that treats Mg6Al2CO3(OH)16∙4H2O as mixtures of simple oxides. Thermodynamic calculations were performed assuming an equilibrium state between aqueous solutions and corresponding precipitates after synthesis.