Strain induced phenomena in Ca(OH)/sub 2/ made by reaction of CaO with water vapor

Three physically distinguishable, poorly crystalline forms of Ca(OH)/sub 2/ which are made by reactions of water vapor at 25/sup 0/C with CaO powders evolve heat and develop sharper x-ray diffraction patterns when heated to 300/sup 0/C. Measurements of x-ray diffraction peak line breadths, surface areas, porosities, and pore size distributions were made before and after heat treatment. The exothermic process of the one of these forms of Ca(OH)/sub 2/ which is nonporous is recrystallization of the highly strained solid to essentially unstrained crystals. The exothermic process in two porous forms of Ca(OH)/sub 2/, not only reduces their internal strains, but also reduces their surface areas and porosities