A New Perspective on Fluorapatite Dissolution in Hydrochloric Acid: Thermodynamic Calculations and Experimental Study

Apatite (Ap) dissolution in diluted acids is well described in the literature, but in technological processes which use more concentrated acids, the reaction is fast, and it is complicated to follow the process kinetics. The relationship between pH change and the apatite dissolution rate depending on HCl concentration was studied by thermodynamic calculations and experiments with synthetic fluorapatite (FAp). On the basis of experimental pH measurements, the kinetics of dissolution was analyzed. The solution composition (P, Ca, F) was determined by wet chemical methods and the solid part was characterized by XRD and FTIR. It was shown that the amount of HCl needed for FAp dissolution depends on acid concentration. FAp dissolution rate cannot be deduced from solubility data of P, Ca or F as the secondary reactions of CaF2 and CaHPO4 formation take place simultaneously. It was found that the Ap dissolution rate can be followed by pH change.