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Microstructures in the Formation of Chemical Gardens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 February 2011

C. Ignacio Sainz-Diaz ,
Bruno Escribano  and
Julyan Cartwright
C. Ignacio Sainz-Diaz
Affiliation:
[email protected], Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, Laboratorio de Estudios Cristalográficos, Av. Fuentenueva s/n, Granada, 18002, Spain, +34-958181644, +34-958181632
Bruno Escribano
Affiliation:
[email protected], Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, Laboratorio de Estudios Cristalográficos, Av. Fuentenueva s/n, Granada, 18002, Spain
Julyan Cartwright
Affiliation:
[email protected], Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra, CSIC-Universidad de Granada, Laboratorio de Estudios Cristalográficos, Av. Fuentenueva s/n, Granada, 18002, Spain
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Abstract

Chemical gardens are biomimetic structures in the form of plants formed by a combination of salts which precipitate by a combination of convection forced by osmosis, free convection and chemical reactions. Chemical gardens may be implicated in other phenomena of industrial interest which involve precipitation across a colloidal gel membrane which separates two different aqueous solutions, for example, in cement technology and metal corrosion process. However, the variation in chemical composition, morphology and mechanical properties of the different surfaces of these formations is not well known yet. Several salts in different concentrations and conditions have been explored under terrestrial gravity and microgravity. The chemical garden structures have been characterised by morphology analysis, scanning electron microscopy, chemical analysis and x-ray diffraction, correlating these data with the biomimetic growth and the physical-chemical nanoprocesses involved in it. This approach can also be useful for the analysis of biomaterials with interesting biomechanical properties.

Keywords

crystal growthbiomimetic (chemical reaction)microstructure
Type
Research Article
Information
MRS Online Proceedings Library (OPL) , Volume 1097: Symposium GG – Mechanical Behavior of Biological Materials and Biomaterials , 2008 , 1097-GG07-08
Copyright
Copyright © Materials Research Society 2008

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