Anduix-Canto, C orcid.org/0000-0001-7156-4901, Levenstein, MA, Kim, Y-Y orcid.org/0000-0002-8503-4554 et al. (8 more authors) (2021) Exploiting Confinement to Study the Crystallization Pathway of Calcium Sulfate. Advanced Functional Materials, 31 (50). 2107312. ISSN 1616-301X
Abstract
Characterizing the pathways by which crystals form remains a significant challenge, particularly when multiple pathways operate simultaneously. Here, an imaging-based strategy is introduced that exploits confinement effects to track the evolution of a population of crystals in 3D and to characterize crystallization pathways. Focusing on calcium sulfate formation in aqueous solution at room temperature, precipitation is carried out within nanoporous media, which ensures that the crystals are fixed in position and develop slowly. The evolution of their size, shape, and polymorph can then be tracked in situ using synchrotron X-ray computed tomography and diffraction computed tomography without isolating and potentially altering the crystals. The study shows that bassanite (CaSO4 0.5H2O) forms via an amorphous precursor phase and that it exhibits long-term stability in these nanoscale pores. Further, the thermodynamically stable phase gypsum (CaSO4 2H2O) can precipitate by different pathways according to the local physical environment. Insight into crystallization in nanoconfinement is also gained, and the crystals are seen to grow throughout the nanoporous network without causing structural damage. This work therefore offers a novel strategy for studying crystallization pathways and demonstrates the significant impact of confinement on calcium sulfate precipitation, which is relevant to its formation in many real-world environments.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2021 The Authors. Advanced Functional Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. |
Keywords: | amorphous calcium sulfate; bassanite; confinement; crystallization; gypsum; X-ray tomography |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemistry (Leeds) > Inorganic Chemistry (Leeds) The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Mechanical Engineering (Leeds) > Institute of Engineering Thermofluids, Surfaces & Interfaces (iETSI) (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 02 Sep 2021 15:28 |
Last Modified: | 22 Jan 2025 10:16 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Wiley |
Identification Number: | 10.1002/adfm.202107312 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:177671 |