Crystal Growth of Inorganic and Biomediated Carbonates and Phosphates

Biomineralization in newly settled recruits of the scleractinian coral Pocillopora damicornis

“…The question of whether the nanodomains are truly signatures of biological influence is also a matter of debate. Material scientists investigating CaCO 3 mineralization processes have shown that hydrated gels produce CaCO 3 single-crystals composed of granular building blocks of less than 100 nm in diameter separated by a thin film of organic material, very similar to the structures observed in natural biocarbonates (Grassmann et al, 2002;C€ olfen and Antonietti, 2005;Imai et al, 2006;Asenath-Smith et al, 2012;Falini et al, 2013;S anchez-Navas et al, 2013). There is also evidence that nanocomposite crystals (mesocrystals) can form in complete absence of bioorganic or organic macromolecules (Zhou et al 2009).…”

“…Dumbbell-like and semispherulitic structures are typical crystal assemblages that form at extremely high supersaturations, that is, during strongly nonequilibrium precipitation (e.g., C€ olfen and Qi, 2001;Imai et al, 2006;S anchez-Navas et al, 2009S anchez-Navas et al, , 2013. These structures have been produced in many in vitro experiments involving supersaturated solutions or gel-media characterized by Mg/Ca ratios above 4 (like modern SW), with or without organic additives (e.g., Fern andez-D ıaz et al, 1996;Morse et al, 1997;Raz et al, 2000;Falini et al, 2002;Jiao et al, 2006;Gayathri et al, 2007;Takeuchi et al, 2008;Devos et al, 2009;Chen et al, 2011;Goffredo et al, 2011).…”

“…Vandermeulen and Watabe (1973) already mentioned that the external surface of primary septa in 48 h-old recruits of P. damicornis exhibits a fine granular texture. Such submicrometer granular building blocks were observed mostly with HR-SEM and atomic force microscopy of CaCO 3 biominerals, and their associated envelopes of organic materials have been widely interpreted as a signature of biologicallyinduced and/or controlled Ca-carbonate (e.g., Isa, 1986;Stolarski, 2003;Dauphin, 2005a, 2005b;Robach et al, 2005;Rousseau et al, 2005;Stolarski and Mazur, 2005;Dauphin, 2006;Oaki et al, 2006;Rivadeneyra et al, 2006;Sethmann et al, 2006Sethmann et al, , 2007Baronnet et al, 2008;Cuif et al, 2008Cuif et al, , 2011Cusack et al, 2008;Jacob et al, 2008;Dauphin et al, 2008;S anchez-Navas et al, 2009S anchez-Navas et al, , 2013Gilis et al, 2011Gilis et al, , 2013Weiner and Addadi, 2011;Sondi et al, 2011;P erez-Huerta et al, 2013).…”

Growing spherulitic calcite grains in saline, hyperalkaline lakes: experimental evaluation of the effects of Mg-clays and organic acids

“…The nucleation patterns and crystallization processes of carbonate precipitates, including spherulites, are well described in environmental and materials science literature (i.e., Buczynski and Chafetz, 1993;Verrecchia et al, 1995;Tracey et al, 1998a,b;Braissant et al, 2003;Aloisi et al, 2006;Rodriguez-Navarro et al, 2007;Sánchez-Navas et al, 2009;Tourney and Ngwenya, 2009;Andreassen et al 2010;Beck and Andreassen, 2010;Ercole et al, 2012;Sánchez-Navas et al, 2013). Many additives to aqueous solution have been found to promote spherulite formation, and these include oxygen-rich organic acid molecules, such as citric or malic acids (Meldrum and Hyde, 2001), or aspartic acid (Braissant et al, 2003;Wolthers et al, 2008).…”

Amorphous polyphosphate, a smart bioinspired nano-/bio-material for bone and cartilage regeneration: towards a new paradigm in tissue engineering

“…From studies with Ca 2+ phosphate and carbonate nanoparticles it is known that the crystallization can pass through a gelly-like phase, the coacervate. 111,112 Such a phase is formed during an electrostatically-driven liquid-liquid transition phase, resulting from the association of oppositely charged (macro)-ions, the negatively charged polyP and the water layer. Those coacervate assemblies can measure 4100 mm and are formed from their soluble precursors of less than 200 nm.…”