Facile preparation of calcium carbonate particles with unusual morphologies by precipitation reaction

Calcium carbonate particles with different morphologies were prepared by the reaction of sodium carbonate with calcium chloride in the presence of different organic additives at 25degreesC and 80degreesC. The as-prepared products were characterized with scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. The results showed that both organic additives and temperature turned out to be important parameters for the control of morphologies of CaCO3. Various crystal morphologies of CaCO3, such as, plate, rhombohedra, ellipsoids, whisker, dendrite, etc. can be obtained depending on the experimental, conditions. In particular, monodispersed rhombohedral calcite particles, whiskers of aragonite and exquisite dendrite-shaped CaCO3 aggregates were obtained with polyacrylic acid, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and polyvinyl alcohol as additives at 80degreesC, respectively. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.