Hen eggwhite-mediated stack crystallization of calcium carbonate

In this paper, the stack-like crystallization of calcium carbonate in the presence of hen eggwhite under direct drying and vacuum freeze drying was investigated, and marked morphological changes in the calcium carbonate particles were observed depending on the reaction condition used. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), Transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and Nano Mechanical Tester were employed to characterize the samples. Results indicate that gelling eggwhite-mediated the formation of the stack-like layered calcium carbonate aggregates composed of considerable nanosheets under direct drying while only rhombohedra calcite crystal (1 0 4) was formed without any additives. An analogous structure to the brick-and-mortar arrangement was attainted by vacuum freeze drying. The average elastic modulus and the hardness of stack-like calcium carbonate hybrid material were assessed 0.9952 and 0.0415 GPa with Nano-indenter test, respectively. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.