Not contamination The researchers had obviously discovered a new hitherto unknown calcium carbonate phase. “Determining its precise structure was not at all easy”, Fratzl admits. For one thing, ...

When looking at calcite under a microscope, a scientist would immediately recognize the crystalline form of calcium carbonate ...

Calcium carbonate is everywhere. From seashells to eggshells to antacid medicine, it is one of the most abundant minerals on our planet. But scientists still don’t agree on how it forms its many ...

Here we show that chiral, hierarchically organized architectures for calcium carbonate ... single definitive structure agreed upon 16. With this uncertainty of vaterite crystal structure in ...

Proteins trapped in calcium carbonate crystals create a compressive force -- or strain -- within the crystal structure. Unlike the strain that makes muscles sore, this compressive strain is ...

The secret to its success lies in its complex nanostructure — and how that structure ... how that calcium carbonate crystalizes. The interaction between the mineral crystals and the proteins ...

Animals such as sea urchins and shellfish also make amorphous calcium carbonate and use it as a first step to build their spines and shells. More stable forms have a repeating geometric crystal ...