Crystallization and assembling behavior of calcium carbonate controlled by Ca-organic fibers

Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystals with different phases were obtained on the basis of one-dimensional Ca-deoxycholate fibers (Ca-DC fibers) under ambient conditions. Ca-DC fibers were prepared by the combination of Ca2+ ions and sodium deoxycholate (SDC) before the addition of sodium bicarbonate. Vaterite dominated mixtures could be easily obtained in the presence of Ca-DC fibers in the aqueous system at 10 degrees C. As the temperature was increased to 30 and 120 degrees C, pure vaterite and aragonite with novel morphologies were obtained, respectively. The framework formed by one-dimensional Ca-DC fibers was demonstrated to be the key role in mediating the crystallization and assembling behaviors of calcium carbonate. In this study, Ca-DC fibers, prepared as a novel insoluble organic polymorph controller, could even play an important role in the industrial production of CaCO3 with different polymorphs in future and other similar Ca-organic fibers are believed to have same functions as well. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.