Phosphoproteins have specific and prominent influences on mediating the crystallization of calcium carbonate. In this research, a new kind of calcium carbonate crystal with a novel self-organized spiky dumbbell-like superstructure was synthesized in the presence of one typical phosphoprotein-casein. A complex self-assembly process for the formation of the hierarchical superstructures in the presence of casein has been proposed. The effects of the concentration of calcium ion, the reaction time, and temperature are investigated. The results indicate that phosphate groups of casein play important roles in directing growth and self-assembly of hierarchical superstructures. Our studies may contribute to the understanding of the specific role of phosphoprotein in the biomineralization process. We also believe that our studies will provide new insights into controlling the structure and morphology of minerals under easily attainable reaction conditions in the presence of phosphoprotein.

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To gain more insight into protein structure–function relationships that govern biomineralization is an exciting and challenging task.

Here, we developed a facile and green method to fabricate porous double cashew-shaped calcium oxalate (CaOx) in the presence of amphiphilic phosphoproteins. The obtained CaOx exhibits high efficient and selective adsorption of Congo red.