Control over the crystal phase, shape, size and aggregation of calcium carbonate via a l-aspartic acid inducing process

A Biomimetic Nano-Scale Aggregation Route for the Formation of Submicron-Size Colloidal Calcite Particles

“…Its amino acid sequence contains 12.8 % Asp and Glu residues. The initial formation of a nanosize, amorphous and metastable precursor phase may be the result of a strong interaction between the Ca 2+ and Asp and Glu at the urease surface, forming Ca 2+ /Asp and Ca 2+ /Glu multi-carboxyl chelate complexes (Tong et al, 2004). This is in agreement with previous studies which have shown that the Asp residue controls the rate of nucleation, inhibits the growth of solids and favors the formation of the amorphous phase (Aizenberg et al, 2001;Addadi et al, 2003).…”

“…The formation of biogenic calcium carbonate is controlled by organic molecules, mostly peptides, polypeptides, proteins, and polysaccharides, which are directly involved in regulating the nucleation, growth, and shaping of the precipitates (Elhadj et al, 2006a;DeOliveira & Laursen, 1997;Sondi & Salopek-Sondi, 2004). Recently published studies have shown that mineralizing organisms utilize the capabilities of such macromolecules to interact in specific ways with the surfaces of the growing crystals, manipulating their structural and physical properties (Teng et al, 1998;Volkmer et al, 2004;Tong et al, 2004). These materials are inspiring a variety of scientists who seek to design novel materials with advanced properties, similar to those produced by mineralizing organisms in Nature.…”

The effects of non-metabolizing bacterial cells on the precipitation of U, Pb and Ca phosphates

“…For example, organic molecules exuded by biofilms widely affect the precipitation of calcite, influencing not only the growth kinetics, but the morphology as well (Mann et al, 1990;Archibald et al, 1996;McGrath, 2001;Meldrum and Hyde, 2001;Braissant et al, 2003;Hammes et al, 2003;Tong et al, 2004;Bosak and Newman, 2005;Dupraz et al, 2009), likely through incorporation effects (Lowenstam and Weiner, 1989). Studies have also shown that various organic molecules widely affect the structure and morphology of a range of minerals, including numerous iron oxides (Châtellier et al, 2001(Châtellier et al, , 2004Larese-Casanova et al, 2010;Perez-Gonzalez et al, 2010), uranyl phosphate (Macaskie et al, 2000), and silica (Williams, 1984).…”

Coral calcification : insights from inorganic experiments and coral responses to environmental variables

“…Since the composition and morphology of crystals provide insights into the conditions under which they grew (e.g., Lofgren, 1971;Reddy and Nancollas, 1976;Marsh, 1988;Prieto et al, 1997;Marsh, 1998;Tong et al, 2004;Wasylenski et al, 2005), the observed crystal morphologies and compositions associated with known conditions in the synthetic experiments may be useful in assigning possible conditions of formation of naturally formed precipitates.…”