Experimental studies of charoite mineral transformations under thermal treatment

Abstract

Phase transformations of the charoite mineral induced by thermal treatment at high temperatures were studied by simultaneous monitoring of the thermogravimetry, differential scanning calorimetry, and mass spectrometry curves up to its melting temperature range (~ 1300 °C). The chemical composition and phase state of the initial and melted samples were characterized using electron-probe micro-analysis, X-ray photoemission spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction, and Raman spectroscopy. It was demonstrated that continuous heating (10 °C/min) up to ~ 500 °C resulting in a mass loss of ~ 5 wt. % was due to crystallization water release and dehydroxylation, while oxygen release and carbonate inclusion decomposition were observed at a higher temperature. The endothermic peak with a heat effect of 82 J/g observed at 970 ÷ 1050 °C was attributed to the charoite-to-wollastonite transition detected by real-time X-ray powder diffraction in this temperature range. Above 1100 °C, another extended endothermic effect was fixed, which was presumably due to the formation of pseudowollastonite and pre-melting processes. The melting of the charoite sample using the floating zone technique resulted in its transformation to pseudowollastonite and caused a significant color change from lilac to rose pink.