An experimental study on thermal decomposition behavior of magnesite

Thermal decomposition of magnesite is investigated by using a TG–MS. Different kinetic methods including Coats–Redfern, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa, and Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose are used to investigate the thermal decomposition kinetics of magnesite. It was observed that the activation energy values obtained by these methods are similar. The average apparent activation energy is found to be about 203 kJ mol^?1. The raw magnesite and its decomposition products obtained at different temperatures are analyzed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The concentration of functional groups, crystal structure and composition, and apparent morphology of decomposition products were studied in detail. The FTIR, XRD, and SEM analyses showed that magnesite was completely decomposed at 973 K to form MgO.