Additives Control the Stability of Amorphous Calcium Carbonate via Two Different Mechanisms: Surface Adsorption versus Bulk Incorporation

Research output: Contribution to journalResearch articleContributedpeer-review

Contributors

  • Zhaoyong Zou - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Wuhan University of Technology (Author)
  • Xiaofei Yang - , Nanjing Forestry University (Author)
  • Marie Albéric - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Sorbonne Université (Author)
  • Tobias Heil - , Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Author)
  • Qihang Wang - , Wuhan University of Technology (Author)
  • Boaz Pokroy - , Technion-Israel Institute of Technology (Author)
  • Yael Politi - , Chair of Bioprospecting, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Author)
  • Luca Bertinetti - , Chair of Bioprospecting, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (Author)

Abstract

The mechanisms by which organisms control the stability of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) are yet not fully understood. Previous studies have shown that the intrinsic properties of ACC and its environment are critical in determining ACC stability. Here, the question, what is the effect of bulk incorporation versus surface adsorption of additives on the stability of synthetic ACC, is addressed. Using a wide range of in situ characterization techniques, it is shown that surface adsorption of poly(Aspartic acid) (pAsp) has a much larger stabilization effect than bulk incorporation of pAsp and only 1.5% pAsp could dramatically increase the crystallization temperature from 141 to 350 °C. On the contrary, surface adsorption of PO4 3− ions and OH ions does not effectively stabilize ACC. However, bulk incorporation of these ions could significantly improve the ACC stability. It is concluded that the stabilization mechanism of pAsp is entirely different from that of PO4 3− and OH ions: while pAsp is effectively inhibiting calcite nucleation at the surface of ACC particle, the latter acts to modify the ion mobility and delay crystal propagation. Thus, new insights on controlling the stability and crystallization processes of metastable amorphous materials are provided.

Details

Original languageEnglish
Article number2000003
JournalAdvanced functional materials
Volume30
Issue number23
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2020
Peer-reviewedYes

External IDs

ORCID /0000-0002-4666-9610/work/142238933
ORCID /0000-0002-2872-8277/work/142239151

Keywords

Keywords

  • additives, amorphous calcium carbonate, biomineralization, crystallization, in situ characterization, stability