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Visualization of the effect of additives on the nanostructures of individual bio-inspired calcite crystals

Ihli, J; Clark, JN; Kanwal, N; Kim, Y-Y; Holden, MA; Harder, RJ; Tang, CC; ... Meldrum, FC; + view all (2019) Visualization of the effect of additives on the nanostructures of individual bio-inspired calcite crystals. Chemical Science , 10 (4) pp. 1176-1185. 10.1039/c8sc03733g. Green open access

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Abstract

Soluble additives provide a versatile strategy for controlling crystallization processes, enabling selection of properties including crystal sizes, morphologies, and structures. The additive species can also be incorporated within the crystal lattice, leading for example to enhanced mechanical properties. However, while many techniques are available for analyzing particle shape and structure, it remains challenging to characterize the structural inhomogeneities and defects introduced into individual crystals by these additives, where these govern many important material properties. Here, we exploit Bragg coherent diffraction imaging to visualize the effects of soluble additives on the internal structures of individual crystals on the nanoscale. Investigation of bio-inspired calcite crystals grown in the presence of lysine or magnesium ions reveals that while a single dislocation is observed in calcite crystals grown in the presence of lysine, magnesium ions generate complex strain patterns. Indeed, in addition to the expected homogeneous solid solution of Mg ions in the calcite lattice, we observe two zones comprising alternating lattice contractions and relaxation, where comparable alternating layers of high magnesium calcite have been observed in many magnesium calcite biominerals. Such insight into the structures of nanocomposite crystals will ultimately enable us to understand and control their properties.

Type: Article
Title: Visualization of the effect of additives on the nanostructures of individual bio-inspired calcite crystals
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.1039/c8sc03733g
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.1039/c8sc03733g
Language: English
Additional information: This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Keywords: Science & Technology, Physical Sciences, Chemistry, Multidisciplinary, Chemistry, AMINO-ACIDS, SINGLE-CRYSTALS, LATTICE-DISTORTIONS, VERSATILE APPROACH, MAGNESIAN CALCITE, SEA-URCHIN, GROWTH, NANOPARTICLES, STRAIN, MG2+
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of Maths and Physical Sciences > London Centre for Nanotechnology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10068012
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