Effect of magnetic field on sodium arsenate metastable zone width and crystal nucleation kinetics for crystallization

Sodium arsenate, the main component of arsenic-containing solid waste pollutants, causes serious environmental health threats. Crystallization is one of the effective methods for separating and purifying sodium arsenate from arsenic-alkali residue lixivium. However, the crystallization process is limited for its low observability and the lack of separation and purification data. In this work, a laser detection system with a magnetic field generator was designed, and the solubility, metastable zone width, interfacial tension, interfacial entropy factor, crystal nucleation, and growth rate of sodium arsenate were investigated in a constant composition environment. The results showed that the solubility, metastable zone width, interfacial tension, and interfacial entropy factor decreases with the presence of a magnetic field. The magnetic field shortened the crystallization induction time and changed the nucleation and growth rate of sodium arsenate. Under the magnetic field, the nucleation rate increased from 2.43 × 10¹⁶ to 8.98 × 10¹⁷ (s m³)⁻¹, and the growth rate decreased from 4.94 × 10⁻⁸ to 2.73 × 10⁻⁸ (s m³)⁻¹, the growth mechanism of sodium arsenate as a continuous growth mode was unchanged. In addition, the X-ray diffraction and infrared showed that the crystal structure of sodium arsenate is unaffected by the magnetic field, indicating that the enhancement of the crystallization process of sodium arsenate with the magnetic field could be a feasible method in engineering application.