Transforming Silicate Containing Materials into Reactive Materials for CO2 Capture and Other Applications

Disclosed herein is a method of forming a precipitate, comprising: a. providing a salt solution; b. performing electrochemical reactions in the salt solution to produce a solution of lower pH and a solution of higher pH; c. providing a silicate-containing material containing Mg^(2+) and/or Ca^(2+) ions; d. treating the silicate-containing material with the solution of lower pH to dissolve at least a portion of the silicate-containing material and generate a second solution with higher pH; e. combining the solution generated in (d) with at least a portion of the solution with higher pH generated in (b) to form the precipitate and a second salt solution; and f. recycling the second salt solution generated in step (e) by adding (b).