Acceleration of calcite kinetics by abalone nacre proteins
The fascinating shapes and hierarchical designs of biomineralized structures have long been an inspiration to materials scientists because of the potential they suggest for biomolecular control over synthesis of crystalline materials. One prevailing view is that mineral-associated macromolecules are responsible for initiating and stabilizing non-equilibrium crystal polymorphs and morphologies through interactions between anionic moieties and cations in solution or at mineral surfaces. Indeed, numerous studies have demonstrated that bio-organic additives can dramatically alter crystal shapes and growth-rates in vitro. However, previous molecular-scale studies revealing mechanisms of growth modification focused on small molecules such as amino acids or peptides and always observed growth inhibition. In contrast, studies using full proteins were non-quantitative and underlying sources of growth modification were ill-defined. Here we investigate interactions between proteins isolated from abalone shell nacre and growing surfaces of calcite. We find that these proteins significantly accelerate the molecular-scale kinetics and, though much larger than atomic steps, alter growth morphology through step-specific interactions that lower their free energies. We propose that these proteins act as surfactants to promote ion attachment at calcite surfaces.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Livermore National Lab. (LLNL), Livermore, CA (United States)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE
- DOE Contract Number:
- W-7405-ENG-48
- OSTI ID:
- 884762
- Report Number(s):
- UCRL-JRNL-212841; TRN: US200616%%95
- Journal Information:
- Advanced Materials, Vol. 17, Issue 22
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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