title: Combined Experimental and Theoretical Approach to the Kinetics of Magnetite Crystal Growth from Primary Particles.
abstract: It is now recognized that nucleation and growth of crystals can occur not only by the addition of solvated ions but also by accretion of nanoparticles, in a process called nonclassical crystallization. The theoretical framework of such processes has only started to be described, partly due to the lack of kinetic or thermodynamic data. Here, we study the growth of magnetite nanoparticles from primary particles-nanometer-sized amorphous iron-rich precursors-in aqueous solution at different temperatures. We propose a theoretical framework to describe the growth of the nanoparticles and model both a diffusion-limited and a reaction-limited pathway to determine which of these best describes the rate-limiting step of the process. We show that, based on the measured iron concentration and the related calculated concentration of primary particles at the steady state, magnetite growth is likely a reaction-limited process, and within the framework of our model, we propose a phase diagram to summarize the observations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Marc
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Widdrat
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Emanuel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schneck
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Victoria
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Reichel
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Jens
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Baumgartner
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Bertinetti
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Wouter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Habraken
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Klaas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Bente
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Fratzl
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomaterials, Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces , Science Park Golm, 14424 Potsdam, Germany.
authors.forename: Damien
authors.identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0001-6191-3389
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Faivre