Roles of oleic acid during micropore dispersing preparation of nano-calcium carbonate particles

► Nano-CaCO 3 particles have been successfully prepared by micropore dispersion method. ► Oleic acid is introduced as surfactant during micropore dispersion preparation. ► The addition of oleic acid can reduce the size of nano-CaCO 3 particles. ► Two opposite roles of oleic acid in the preparation of CaCO 3 are concluded. In the present work, nano-calcium carbonate powder was prepared by micropore dispersion method with assistance of oleic acid as surfactant. CO 2 gas was dispersed into the Ca(OH) 2/H 2O slurry via a glass micropore-plate with the diameter of micropore about 20 μm. To investigate the effect of oleic acid on the size of CaCO 3 particles, different amount of oleic acid was added in Ca(OH) 2/H 2O slurry at 5 °C and 25 °C, respectively. XRD patterns show that cubic calcite is the only crystalline phase in all cases. ZPA data and TEM photo indicate that the average particle size synthesized at 5 °C without oleic acid is of about 40 nm, slightly smaller than that of prepared at 25 °C, and that the dispersity of sample prepared at 5 °C is better than that of 25 °C. When oleic acid is added in both temperatures, the average particle size decreases a little. FT-IR spectra demonstrate that oleic acid interacts with Ca 2+ and carbon–carbon double bond existed on the surface of particle. Consequently, two opposite roles of oleic acid during the process of preparation of nano-CaCO 3 were proposed, namely preventing nanoparticles from growing during reaction and making nanoparticles reunite to a certain extent after reaction.