Surface Modification of Rock-Forming Minerals of Diamond-Bearing Kimberlites under Interaction with Wastewater and Electrochemically Treated Water

Abstract

The structural and chemical surface transformation of basic kimberlite-forming minerals (calcite, olivine, serpentine) under the contact with natural and waste mineralized water and products of electrochemical treatment of the water are studied using X-ray photoelectronic spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray spectral micro-analysis, and atomic force microscopy. It is found that contact with kimberlite extract and recycling water induces chemical modification of calcite surface, which consists in adsorption of hydrocarbon impurities, and chlorine- and silica-bearing compounds, majority of which are removed during interaction with the product of electrochemical treatment of recycling water. The change in the structural and chemical surface properties of rock-forming silicates, aside from adsorption–desorption of organic compound, is also connected with the distortion of nano-size layer structure after leaching of Mg, Fe and Si, and with the carbonatization of the surface.