SON68 glass dissolution driven by magnesium silicate precipitation

Experimental results are reported on the effect of magnesium silicate precipitation on the mechanisms and rate of borosilicate glass dissolution. Leaching experiments with SON68 glass, a borosilicate containing no Mg, were carried out in initially deionized water at 50 °C with a glass-surface-area-to-solution-volume ratio of 20,000 m−1. After 29 days of alteration the experimental conditions were modified by the addition of Mg to trigger the precipitation of Mg-silicate. Additional experiments were conducted to investigate the importance of other parameters such as pH or dissolved silica on the mechanisms of precipitation of Mg-silicates and their consequences on the glass dissolution rate. Mg-silicates precipitate immediately after Mg is added. The amount of altered glass increases with the quantity of added Mg, and is smaller when silicon is added in solution. A time lag is observed between the addition of magnesium and the resumption of glass alteration because silicon is first provided by partial dissolution of the previously formed alteration gel. It is shown that nucleation does not limit Mg-silicate precipitation. A pH above 8 is necessary for the phase to precipitate under the investigated experimental conditions. On the other hand the glass alteration kinetics limits the precipitation if the magnesium is supplied in solution at a non-limiting rate.