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Mineralization of Calcium Carbonates in Cellulose Gel Membranes
Author(s) -
Rauch Marcus W.,
Dressler Martina,
Scheel Hanne,
Van Opdenbosch Daniel,
Zollfrank Cordt
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
european journal of inorganic chemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.667
H-Index - 136
eISSN - 1099-0682
pISSN - 1434-1948
DOI - 10.1002/ejic.201200575
Subject(s) - chemistry , calcium carbonate , membrane , aragonite , chemical engineering , ammonium carbonate , calcite , mineralization (soil science) , cellulose , carbonate , diffusion , inorganic chemistry , mineralogy , organic chemistry , biochemistry , physics , nitrogen , engineering , thermodynamics
A diffusion‐driven mineralization approach for the fabrication of calcium carbonate on and in regenerated and functionalized cellulose membranes was investigated. Calcium dichloride was used as the cation source. Ammonium carbonate was applied in a gas‐phase diffusion and sodium carbonate in a liquid continuous‐flow setup. Calcium carbonate was obtained solely on the membrane surfaces from the gas‐diffusion approach, whereas by applying continuous‐flow diffusion, crystals were obtained throughout the membranes. The main polymorph was calcite with minor fractions of aragonite. The crystals were assembled from nanometer‐sized building blocks and showed a strong interaction with the cellulose matrix under continuous liquid flow conditions. The cellulose membranes acted as an insoluble template matrix with a rigid and fine mesh of cellulose fibers as superstructure, thereby resulting in a structure‐directing microenvironment for the calcium carbonate mineralization in a confined space.