Crystallization of calcium carbonate salts into beta-chitin scaffold.
Composites of beta-chitin with calcium carbonate polymorphs were prepared by precipitation of the mineral into a chitin scaffold by means of a double diffusion system. The beta-chitin was obtained from the pen of the Loligo sp. squid. The three main polymorphs of calcium carbonate: aragonite, calcite and vaterite, were observed. Their location within the matrix is a function of the polymorph. The supersaturation inside the compartmentalized space in the chitin governs the location and polymorphism of the crystals.
Falini
Giuseppe
G
Dipartimento di Chimica G. Ciamician, Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna, Via Selmi 2, I-40126 Bologna, Italy. falini@ciam.unibo.it
Fermani
Simona
S
Ripamonti
Alberto
A
D000818:Animals; D002119:Calcium Carbonate / Q000737:chemistry*; D002686:Chitin / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D003460:Crystallization; D049832:Decapodiformes; D008855:Microscopy, Electron, Scanning
D002686:Chitin; D002119:Calcium Carbonate