Quantitative analysis of calcium carbonate formation in magnetized water

This research studies the influence of static magnetic fields on the structure of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystals. Experiments were conducted by exposing Ca2+ and CO(3)(2- )solutions to magnetic fields. The solutions were then combined to form CaCO3 particles. Three characteristics of CaCO3 formation reaction have been investigated, namely absorbance differentiation, vibrational modes and crystal structure. Absorbances were measured using ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, while vibrational modes were measured using Flourier transform (FT) infrared and FT Raman spectroscopies. X-ray diffractometer was used to determine the crystal structure. Experimental results show that the nucleation of CaCO3 crystals was inhibited when starting solutions were exposed to magnetic fields. The effect of magnetic fields was mainly attributed to CO32- solution and remained for more than 144 h after starting solutions were combined. As various magnetic field strengths were applied to the solutions, aragonite was formed, and aragonite/calcite ratios were proportional to magnetic field strengths. Using the X-ray technique, the measured crystal structure indicated that the aragonite/calcite ratio increased from 10 to 82% when the magnetic field strength was increased from 60 to 460 mT for the duration of 8 min.