Biomedical Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Fig. 6.15
(
a
) Schematic illustration of the ACC formation on a Au-OH SAM. (
b
)SEMoftheACC
spheres removed from the solution after 45 min. Inset: high-magnification image. (
c
) Schematic
presentation of the process. (
d
) SEM of the oriented calcite crystals formed on a secondary
nucleating template of Au-C15-COOH. The inset shows a computer simulation of the crystal
nucleated from the (012) nucleation plane (NP). (
e
) SEM of the oriented calcite crystals formed
on a secondary nucleating template of Au-C10-COOH. The inset shows a computer simulation
of the crystal nucleated from the (113) NP. (Reproduced from [
99
], Copyright © 2008, American
Chemical Society)
into synthetic ACC particles and further participate in the crystallization process.
This strategy opens the way to use a stabilized ACC as a versatile reservoir
that can be converted in a highly controlled fashion to a crystalline form upon
contacting a specially designed nucleating template in water. ACC was deposited
by immersing the hydroxyl-terminated template in CaCl
2
solutions through the
gas diffusion technique. The obtained ACC on templates was rinsed with acetone
and dried under N
2
. Then, a carboxylic acid-functionalized template was brought
in direct contact with ACC for inducing crystallization of ACC. One milliliter
water was placed in between the two substrates to initiate the crystallization
process.
It is well-known that phospholipids as the important membrane constituents of
biological vesicles are commonly involved in delineating reaction compartments
for the crystallization of biominerals, such as magnetosomes in magnetotactic
