Experimental determination of thermodynamic characteristics of smithsonite

The heat capacity of natural zinc carbonate (smithsonite, ZnCO3) has been measured by the method of low-temperature adiabatic calorimetry over the temperature range of (4.4 to 320) K. Its thermodynamic functions have been calculated based on the experimental data on the heat capacity. The standard values of the heat capacity and entropy for smithsonite are as follows: Cp,m = 80.36 ± 0.09 J · mol−1 · K−1, Sm = 81.28 ± 0.09 J · mol−1 · K−1.

► Heat capacity of natural smithonite was measured by means of adiabatic calorimetry. ► The experimental data were processed using spline-approximation to obtain Cp (298.15). ► Thermodynamic functions of smithonite were calculated in the range of (4 to 320) K.