Abstract
Phase transformations of carbonates are relevant to a wide range of biological, environmental, and industrial processes. Over the past decade, it emerged that crystallization pathways in these systems can be quite complex. Metastable intermediates such as amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) were found to greatly impact composition, structure, and properties of more stable phases. However, it has been challenging to create predictive models. Rapid transformation of ACC in bulk has been one obstacle in the determination of nucleation rates. Herein, it is reported that confinement in microfluidic droplets allows separating in time the precipitation of ACC and subsequent nucleation and growth of crystalline CaCO3. An upper limit of 1.2 cm-3 s-1 was determined for the steady-state crystal nucleation rate in the presence of ACC at ambient conditions. This rate has implications for the formation of calcium carbonate in biomineralization, bio-inspired syntheses, and carbon sequestration.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 5039-5043 |
| Number of pages | 5 |
| Journal | Chemical Science |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue number | 19 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 2019 |
Funding
This work was supported by the NSF (DMR-1508399) and ARO (W911NF-16-1-0262). This work made use of: the EPIC facility of Northwestern University's NUANCE Center, which has received support from the So and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC Program (NSF DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. The authors acknowledge Prof. Seth Fraden and Dr Achini Opa-thalage for training in microuidic fabrication. This work was supported by the NSF (DMR-1508399) and ARO (W911NF-16-1-0262). This work made use of: the EPIC facility of Northwestern University's NUANCE Center, which has received support from the Soft and Hybrid Nanotechnology Experimental (SHyNE) Resource (NSF ECCS-1542205); the MRSEC Program (NSF DMR-1121262) at the Materials Research Center; the International Institute for Nanotechnology (IIN); the Keck Foundation; and the State of Illinois, through the IIN. The authors acknowledge Prof. Seth Fraden and Dr Achini Opathalage for training in microfluidic fabrication.
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- General Chemistry