Kinetic control of particle-mediated calcium carbonate crystallization

By changing the temperature, pH, stirring rate, or time for calcium carbonate crystallization, complex shapes of aggregated calcium carbonates formed. Such shapes have earlier been ascribed to specific interactions with specialized additives. Without polymeric additives, aggregates of vaterite transformed more rapidly into calcite aggregates under slow than under fast stirring. With an anionic polyelectrolyte added, vaterite was stabilized. Larger polycrystalline aggregates of vaterite formed under rapid than under slow stirring, indicative of a particle mediated growth of aggregates controlled by convective currents. The size of the underlying nanoparticles was temperature dependent, with grain sizes of similar to 20 to 50 nm at 20 degrees C and similar to 350 nm at 90 degrees C. The small differences in free energy between the anhydrous polymorphs of calcium carbonate made both kinetic and equilibrium dependencies important.