Stock solutions were prepared for all salts using ultrapure water (Millipore-Sigma 18.2MΩ) at 1M ionic strength. The solutions were diluted further to the various concentrations and left exposed to laboratory air overnight to reach equilibrium with atmospheric CO2 (pH 5.7 ±0.2) prior to usage in the experiments to avoid formation of any hydroxides with the divalent cation species in solution or complexation on silica substrate in the form of hydrates. No further filtration was carried out prior to experimentation.