What Is Magnesium Silicate?
Magnesium silicate is a general term for compounds comprising magnesium oxide, silicic acid, and water, existing in various compositions. Natural minerals that contain magnesium silicate include talc, olivine, and pyroxene.
Olivine, also known as bitter earth, is primarily composed of magnesium orthosilicate, whereas magnesium pyroxene consists of magnesium metasilicate. These compounds differ in crystal forms and properties.
Both magnesium orthosilicate and magnesium metasilicate can be synthetically produced by heating and fusing silicic acid with magnesium oxide.
Uses of Magnesium Silicate
Magnesium orthosilicate is utilized as a raw material in the production of blast furnace slag. On the other hand, the production of magnesium disilicate, which naturally occurs as serpentine, is prohibited due to its carcinogenic properties.
Dimagnesium trisilicate, occurring naturally as seafoam stone, is also synthesized artificially using magnesium sulfate and sodium silicate.