Dj. Ahn et al., PROBING THE DYNAMICS OF TEMPLATE-DIRECTED CALCITE CRYSTALLIZATION WITH IN-SITU FTIR, Journal of physical chemistry, 100(30), 1996, pp. 12455-12461
Organic template-directed mineralization of calcite crystals has been
probed in situ by external reflection-absorption FTIR spectroscopy in
an effort to understand the dynamics of the organic-inorganic interfac
e during crystal growth. The main focus is to elucidate structural cha
nges that may occur in the organic template as crystal growth progress
es. The nucleation face types of calcite were visually identified acco
rding to known crystal morphologies and by the corresponding carbonate
stretching and deformation vibrational bands. Structural reorganizati
on occurring in the organic template could be observed by intensity va
riations and frequency shifts in the methylene stretching bands of oct
adecanoic acid, octadecyl sulfate, and acidic polydiacetylenic lipid f
ilm, These organic templates nucleated calcite at the (010), (001), an
d (012) planes, respectively. The surfactant thin films uniquely adapt
themselves in order to optimize the geometrical and stereochemical fi
t to the growing calcite crystals.