Abstract Scope |
Natural groundwater system porosity occurs in many topologies and replication of these physical heterogeneities is important for lab-scale investigations of water-rock interactions such as dissolution and weathering. To address this need, this study investigates the use of ceramic processing techniques to engineer well defined pore patterns into the mineral anorthite (CaAl2Si2O8, CAS) for use in dissolution experiments. To do so, powders of CaCO3, Al2O3, and SiO2 are calcined in several steps at 1200°C, just below the eutectic for the CAS system. As seen in previous studies, particle size plays a large role in the final phase and reaction times, and milling procedures to achieve particle sizes <~10 um needed to be optimized prior to calcination. Before final sintering and densification, a sacrificial template composed of carbon black or polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) is arranged in the desired geometry in order to vary the porosity characteristics including size, interconnectivity, shape, and topology. |