title: Kinetics and template nucleation of self-assembled hydroxyapatite nanocrystallites by chondroitin sulfate.
abstract: Biomineralization is an important process, which is often assisted by biomolecules. In this paper, the effect of chondroitin sulfate on the crystallization of hydroxyapatite was examined quantitatively based on a generic heterogeneous nucleation model. It is found that chondroitin sulfate can suppress the supersaturation-driven interfacial structure mismatch between the hydroxyapatite crystal and the substrate and promote the formation of ordered hydroxyapatite nanocrystallite assemblies. The nucleation mechanism of self-aligned hydroxyapatite nanocrystallites was examined from the viewpoints of kinetics and interfacial structure and properties, which contributes to an understanding of the fundamentals of biomineralization of self-assembled structures. The results obtained from this study will provide a basic principle to design and fabricate highly orderly organic-inorganic hybrid materials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, National University of Singapore, 2 Science Drive 3, Singapore 117542.
authors.forename: Huaidong
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.forename: Xiang-Yang
authors.initials: XY
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.forename: Gang
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Yang
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates / Q000737:chemistry*; D003460:Crystallization; D017886:Durapatite / Q000737:chemistry*; D007700:Kinetics; D008854:Microscopy, Electron; D036103:Nanotechnology
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D002809:Chondroitin Sulfates; D017886:Durapatite