Authors
Lee Kabalah-Amitai, Boaz Mayzel, Yaron Kauffmann, Andrew N Fitch, Leonid Bloch, Pupa UPA Gilbert, Boaz Pokroy
Publication date
2013/4/26
Journal
science
Volume
340
Issue
6131
Pages
454-457
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science
Description
Calcite, aragonite, and vaterite are the three anhydrous polymorphs of calcium carbonate, in order of decreasing thermodynamic stability. Although vaterite is not commonly found in geological settings, it is an important precursor in several carbonate-forming systems and can be found in biological settings. Because of difficulties in obtaining large, pure, single crystals, the crystal structure of vaterite has been elusive for almost a century. Using aberration-corrected high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, we found that vaterite is actually composed of at least two different crystallographic structures that coexist within a pseudo–single crystal. The major structure exhibits hexagonal symmetry; the minor structure, existing as nanodomains within the major matrix, is still unknown.
Total citations
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Scholar articles
L Kabalah-Amitai, B Mayzel, Y Kauffmann, AN Fitch… - science, 2013