Crystallization of calcite from differently concentrated calcium chloride solutions by the CO2 gas diffusion technique in the presence of polystyrene sulfonate yields crystal superstructures with unusual morphology. From the typical calcite rhombohedra as a starting situation, the morphology can be systematically varied via rounded edges and truncated triangles to finally concavely bended lens-...

Aqueous carbonation of Ca(OH)2 is a complex process that produces calcite with scalenohedral calcite phases and characterized by inadequate carbonate species for effective carbonation due to the poor dissolution of CO2 in water. Consequently, we report a solid-liquid-gas carbonation system with an ionic liquid (IL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bromide, in view of enhancing the reaction of CO2 w...

Aragonite, which is the polymorph of CaCO3 precipitated by modern corals during skeletal formation, has a higher solubility than the more stable polymorph calcite. This higher solubility may leave animals that produce aragonitic skeletons more vulnerable to anthropogenic ocean acidification. It is therefore important to determine whether scleractinian corals have the plasticity to adapt and pro...

The growth rate and composition of cave calcite deposits (speleothems) are often used as proxies for past environmental change. There is, however, the potential for bias in the speleothem record due to seasonal fluctuations in calcite growth and dripwater chemistry. It has been proposed that the growth rate of speleothem calcite in Texas caves varies seasonally in response to density-driven flu...

A pluridisciplinary approach was used to define iodine immobilization mechanisms by biocarbonates in a natural marine carbonate-bearing clayey formation. For this purpose, different techniques of observation (optical microscope, scanning electron microscope (SEM), cathodoluminescence (CL)) and of analyses (infrared spectrometry (IR), electron microprobe (EPMA), spatially resolved synchrotron-ba...

Current interest in boron incorporation into carbonates arises from the observation that the isotopic composition of carbonates depends on the pH of the fluid from which they precipitated. This finding opened the possibility of using boron isotopic composition of natural carbonates as a paleo-pH proxy. In this study, coprecipitation of boron by calcite was investigated using Atomic Force Micros...

Mineral-producing organisms exert exquisite control on all aspects of biomineral production. Among shell-bearing organisms, a wide range of mineral fabrics are developed reflecting diverse modes of life that require different material properties. Our knowledge of how biomineral structures relate to material properties is still limited because it requires the determination of these properties on...

Predicting the conditions in which a compound adopts a metastable structure when it crystallizes out of solution is an unsolved and fundamental problem in materials synthesis, and one which, if understood and harnessed, could enable the rational design of synthesis pathways toward or away from metastable structures. Crystallization of metastable phases is particularly accessible via low-tempera...

Extended X-ray absorption fine-structure (EXAFS) spectroscopy is used to characterize the local coordination of selected rare-earth elements (Nd , Sm , Dy , Yb ) coprecipitated with calcite in minor concentrations from room-temperature aqueous solutions. Fitting results confirm substitution in the Ca site, but first-shell Nd-O and Sm-O distances are longer than the Ca-O distance in calcite and ...

The interaction of organic molecules with the surface of calcite plays a central role in many geochemical, petrochemical, and industrial processes and in biomineralization. Adsorbed organics, typically fatty acids, can interfere with the evolution of calcite when immersed in aqueous solutions. Here we use atomic force microscopy in liquid to explore in real-time the evolution of the (1014) surf...