Supersaturated calcium carbonate solutions are classical.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 29387793.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1126/sciadv.aao6283 and PMC identifier 5786440.
- Licence recorded as CC BY-NC.
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Abstract
Mechanisms of CaCO<sub>3</sub> nucleation from solutions that depend on multistage pathways and the existence of species far more complex than simple ions or ion pairs have recently been proposed. Herein, we provide a tightly coupled theoretical and experimental study on the pathways that precede the initial stages of CaCO<sub>3</sub> nucleation. Starting from molecular simulations, we succeed in correctly predicting bulk thermodynamic quantities and experimental data, including equilibrium constants, titration curves, and detailed x-ray absorption spectra taken from the supersaturated CaCO<sub>3</sub> solutions. The picture that emerges is in complete agreement with classical views of cluster populations in which ions and ion pairs dominate, with the concomitant free energy landscapes following classical nucleation theory.