The Effect of Additives on Amorphous Calcium Carbonate (ACC): Janus Behavior in Solution and the Solid State

Amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) is an important intermediate in the formation of crystalline CaCO3 biominerals, where its crystallization is controlled using soluble additives. However, although this transformation often occurs in the solid state, experiments mainly focus on the effect of additives on ACC crystallization in solution. This paper addresses this issue and compares the crystallization, in solution and in the solid state, of ACC precipitated in the presence of a range of additives. Surprisingly, these results show that some additives exhibit a Janus behavior, where they retard crystallization in solution, yet accelerate it in the solid state. This is observed for all of the larger molecules examined, while the small molecules retard crystallization in both solution and the solid state.