Biomimetic mineral self-organization from silica-rich spring waters

Purely inorganic reactions of silica, metal carbonates, and metal hydroxides can produce self-organized\udcomplex structures that mimic the texture of biominerals, the morphology of primitive organisms, and that\udcatalyze prebiotic reactions. To date, these fascinating structures have only been synthesized using model solutions. We report that mineral self-assembly can be also obtained from natural alkaline silica-rich water deriving from serpentinization. Specifically, we demonstrate three main types ofmineral self-assembly: (i) nanocrystalline biomorphs of barium carbonate and silica, (ii) mesocrystals and crystal aggregates of calcium carbonate with complex biomimetic textures, and (iii) osmosis-driven metal silicate hydrate membranes that form compartmentalized, hollow structures. Our results suggest that silica-induced mineral self-assembly could have been a common phenomenon in alkaline environments of early Earth and Earth-like planets.We acknowledge funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013)/European Research Council grant agreement no. 340863 (Prometheus). This work was also supported by the NSF under grant no. 1609495Peer reviewe