| Abstract Scope |
Minerals offer many fascinating case studies where natural conditions have promoted the nucleation of metastable phases, or inhibited the growth of stable phases. Calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is a simple compound with great polymorphic complexity, and offers a rich model system for nucleation and growth. The equilibrium phase of CaCO3 is calcite, but under various precipitation environments, it can form the metastable polymorphs aragonite or vaterite, and over geological timescales calcite can transform into abundant but difficult-to-grow dolomite phase. In this talk, I will share a few stories on the nucleation and growth of aragonite, dolomite, vaterite, and a very metastable new phase balcite, CaBa(CO3)2. Each of these stories reveal fundamental new lessons that can help us design strategies for the synthesis of advanced technological materials.
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