A perspective view of salt crystallization from solution in porous media: morphology, mechanism, and salt efflorescence

Salt efflorescence is one of the major hazards to cultural heritages, masonries, and highways etc. It is now generally accepted that damages caused by salt efflorescence are mainly due to continuous cycles of salt crystallization/dissolution or hydration/dehydration in confined spaces. The position where salt efflorescence occurs and its type are closely related to the degree of damages caused by salt efflorescence. It is known that water is the key environmental factor determining the salt crystallization position. But influence of the correlation between water supply and evaporation on the position of salt crystallization is still not clearly understood. In this work, a set of experiments are designed to investigate salt efflorescence in porous matrix. It is found that the types and positions of salt efflorescence have little to do with nucleation, but are mainly governed by crystal growth, which is controlled by the rates of water evaporation, water and salt supply, capillary forces and surface properties of the porous matrices.