Abstract
A review. Crystn. in purely inorg. systems can yield smoothly curved forms that resemble those of biomaterials. Garcia-Ruiz et al. (2009) used video microscopy to provide insight into the formation of so-called "biomorphs" obtained by the pptn. from alk. media of nanocryst. BaCO3 (witherite) and amorphous SiO2 in a self-assembly process. Dynamic, pH-based coupling of equil. induces alternating ...
Abstract
A review. Crystn. in purely inorg. systems can yield smoothly curved forms that resemble those of biomaterials. Garcia-Ruiz et al. (2009) used video microscopy to provide insight into the formation of so-called "biomorphs" obtained by the pptn. from alk. media of nanocryst. BaCO3 (witherite) and amorphous SiO2 in a self-assembly process. Dynamic, pH-based coupling of equil. induces alternating crystn. of the BaCO3 and SiO2. The SiO2 acts, via pptn., as an inhibitor for continued carbonate growth. The coupling described by Garcia-Ruiz et al. (2009) explains the origin of nanocrystals and their uniformity; it also sheds light on the dynamics of their formation but details on mol.-scale interactions remain to be clarified.
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