Calcium lactate production from clam shell waste to reduce environmental issues

Abstract

The waste clam shells were used as a raw material to prepare calcium lactate, [Ca(C₂H₄OHCOO)₂]. The waste clam shells were ground and used as a source of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃)  and then was reacted with lactic acid by vary concentrations (6, 8, and 10 M). The optimum conditions were considered by short time consumption and higher percentage yield. The results showed that the optimum concentration of lactic acid was 10 M, which used 1 hour of time consumption and gave 93.86 of percentage yield. All prepared samples were characterized by various techniques as TGA, XRD, SEM, XRF, and FTIR to explain thermal properties, crystal structure, morphology, elemental analysis, vibrational mode analysis, to confirm the formation of calcium lactate samples. This research reports the easy, uncomplicated, and inexpensive preparation technique to produce calcium lactate for reducing shell wastes that is a good choice for environmental management.