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Abstract: The preparation and application of overbased nanodetergents with excess alkaline calcium carbonate is a good example of nanotechnology in practice. The phase transformation of calcium carbonate is of extensive concern since CaCO3 serves both as an important industrial filling material and as the most abundant biomineral in nature. Industrially valuable overbased nanodetergents have been prepared based on calcium salts of heavy alkylbenzene sulfonate by a one-step process under ambient pressure, the carbonation reaction has been monitored by the instantaneous temperature changes and total base number (TBN). A number of analytical techniques such as TGA, DLS, SLS, TEM, FTIR, and XRD have been utilized to explore the carbonation reaction process and phase transformation mechanism of calcium carbonate. An enhanced understanding on the phase transformation of calcium carbonate involved in calcium sulfonate nanodetergents has been achieved and it has been unambiguously demonstrated that amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) transforms into the vaterite polymorph rather than calcite, which would be of crucial importance for the preparation and quality control of lubricant additives and greases. Our results also show that a certain amount of residual Ca(OH)2 prevents the phase transformation from ACC to crystalline polymorphs. Moreover, a vaterite nanodetergent has been prepared for the first time with low viscosity, high base number, and uniform particle size, nevertheless a notable improvement on its thermal stability is required for potential applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: A series of carboxylic acid functionalized hybrid linear-dendritic block copolymers (LDBCs) derived from methoxy poly(ethylene glycol) (MPEG) and variant generation dendrons from 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl) propionic acid were synthesized and employed as CaCO3 crystallization growth modifiers. Mainly spherical vaterite particles of gradually reduced sizes were produced with the increase of the polymer additive concentration and/or the dendron segment generation number, while the incorporated polymer organic components in the particles increased for the promoted binding efficiency and ever enhanced adsorption ability. A higher mineralization temperature resulted in significantly larger particle size and partly calcite formation. Under the same molar concentration of carboxylic acid, the same size level particles were obtained which manifested the crucial role of the functional group, meanwhile, the slight decrease of the spherical vaterite diameters with increasing generation number and especially the formation of particular pine-cone shaped calcite crystals also revealed the significant effect of the architectural structure of variant generations and some special characters of the hybrid LDBC structures. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]