*2.7. Material Characterisation*

#### 2.7.1. Particle Size Analysis (PSA)

Samples collected were analysed wet and fully dispersed, before the filtration and drying steps, with the use of a Mastersizer 3000 (Malvern Panalytical, Malvern, UK) using a Hydro LV liquid unit.

#### 2.7.2. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM)

SEM imaging was used to observe the morphology of the prepared samples. A Zeiss Gemini 1 cross beam 540 FEG SEM (Oberkochen, Germany). Powdered samples were placed secured onto an aluminium sample holder and graphite coated 5 times with a Polaron Equipment E5400 SEM auto-coating sputter system (Quorum, East Sussex, UK).

#### 2.7.3. X-ray Di ffraction Analysis (XRD)

Reaction products of powdered samples were identified using a PANalytical X'Pert Pro powder di ffractometer in θ-θ configuration fitted with an X'Celerator detector and variable divergence- and fixed receiving slits (Malvern Panalytical, Malvern, UK ). The system made use of Fe filtered Co-K α (λ = 1.789Å) source. Samples were prepared using the standardised PANalytical backloading system, providing a random distribution of particles. Samples were scanned from 5◦ to 90◦ with a step size of 0.008◦. Sample mineralogy was determined using the ICSD database in correlation with X'Pert Highscore plus software.

#### 2.7.4. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR)

FT-IR spectra for the samples were obtained using a PerkinElmer 100 Spectrophotometer (Massachusetts, USA) over a range of 550–4000 cm<sup>−</sup><sup>1</sup> and represent an average of 32 scans, at a resolution of 2 cm<sup>−</sup>1.
