Thermal decomposition of spherically granulated malachite: physico-geometrical constraints and overall kinetics

The thermal decomposition of spherically granulated malachite particles was investigated to unveil the specific kinetic features of the reaction in samples in granular form toward the improvement of the thermal processing of malachite as a precursor of functional CuO. Granular malachite underwent thermal decomposition via a partially overlapping two-step mass loss process upon heating the sample in a stream of dry N2 gas. Morphologically, the process was characterized by swelling of the granular particles and cleavage divisions of the surface layer. The kinetics of the thermal decomposition was investigated through step-by-step kinetic analyses of the systematically recorded thermoanalytical curves. Finally, the kinetics of the component reaction steps was separately characterized by performing a kinetic deconvolution analysis. The first reaction step, which contributed approximately 25% to the overall reaction and followed pseudo-first-order kinetics, was attributed to the thermal decomposition of the granular particle surface. The as-produced surface product layer impeded the diffusional removal of the gaseous products, i.e., CO2 and water vapor, from the interior of the granular particles, which caused swelling of the granular particles owing to an increase in the internal gaseous pressure and the cleavage division of the surface product layer by crack formation. The second mass loss step occurred inside the granular particles under significant variations in the self-generated reaction conditions and geometrical constraints and reached its maximum rate midway through the reaction. Possible causes of the observed specific rate behavior are discussed from the viewpoint of physico-geometrical kinetics in the solid–gas system.