Journal
PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Volume 117, Issue 7, Pages 3397-3404Publisher
NATL ACAD SCIENCES
DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1914813117
Keywords
crystallization; biomineralization; calcium carbonate; magnesium; morphology
Categories
Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [21625105, 21805241, 11904300]
- Fujian Provincial Department of Science Technology [2017J05028]
- Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [20720180018]
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2017M621909, 2018T110585]
- Office of Biological and Environmental Research
- Department of Energy [DE-AC05-76RL01830]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Organisms use inorganic ions and macromolecules to regulate crystallization from amorphous precursors, endowing natural biominerals with complex morphologies and enhanced properties. The mechanisms by which modifiers enable these shape-preserving transformations are poorly understood. We used in situ liquid-phase transmission electron microscopy to follow the evolution from amorphous calcium carbonate to calcite in the presence of additives. A combination of contrast analysis and infrared spectroscopy shows that Mg ions, which are widely present in seawater and biological fluids, alter the transformation pathway in a concentration-dependent manner. The ions bring excess (structural) water into the amorphous bulk so that a direct transformation is triggered by dehydration in the absence of morphological changes. Molecular dynamics simulations suggest Mg-incorporated water induces structural fluctuations, allowing transformation without the need to nucleate a separate crystal. Thus, the obtained calcite retains the original morphology of the amorphous state, biomimetically achieving the morphological control of crystals seen in biominerals.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available