Y. Liu et Gh. Nancollas, FLUORAPATITE GROWTH-KINETICS AND THE INFLUENCE OF SOLUTION COMPOSITION, Journal of crystal growth, 165(1-2), 1996, pp. 116-123
Although the rates of dissolution and growth of crystals are usually e
xpressed as a function of the thermodynamic driving forces, the actual
stoichiometry of the solutions may be an important factor. The kineti
cs of fluorapatite (FAP) growth on FAP seed crystals has been investig
ated using the constant composition (CC) method in supersaturated solu
tions containing both stoichiometric and nonstoichiometric crystal lat
tice ion molar ratios. The rate of reaction varies with the zeta-poten
tial of the crystal surfaces, decreasing as the latter approaches zero
. Flocculation is also shown to be an important factor determining the
reaction rates. Rate data as a function of supersaturation is interpr
eted in terms of the Burton-Cabrera-Frank model. Calculated interfacia
l free energies of the FAP crystals are compared to the values obtaine
d by independent experiments.