Water Absorption and Phase Transition of Calcium Carbonate in the Sea Water Mussel (Anadara granosa)

The main purpose of this work is to study the structure of Anadara granosa shell sample and its structural transformation upon heat treatments. The sample was ground and characterized as powder throughout this work. Structural identifications of all samples were characterized, and determined qualitatively by using X-ray diffraction, IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetry measurement (TGA). It was found that the specimen is made of aragonite, a common phase of CaCO3 mineral. The powder sample was annealed at specific temperatures over the range of 200 degrees C - 900 degrees C and the effects of heat treatment on the structure of Anadara granosa shell samples were studied. The results show that aragonite transforms to calcite at the temperatures between 200 degrees C and 400 degrees C and completely becomes calcite between 400-500 degrees C. Then, the calcite transforms to calcium oxide at the temperatures between 500 degrees C - 900 degrees C. The exact structures and quantities of phase at different annealing temperatures were studied by Rietveld refinement. In our study, we also used IR spectroscopy and TGA to study the effect of water absorption of the samples on the phase transformation.