Experimental morphology of calcite is analyzed on crystals population grown both in gel and in aqueous solution. A comparison is made between growth in pure solution and in the presence of specific impurities (such as lithium and acetate ions) giving rise to different habit modifications. The appearance of important {0001} and {011¯8} calcite forms is explained either in terms of 2D epitaxial layers or by random adsorption. Finally, the production of crystalline bubbles of calcite growing in solution around gas cavities is explained as a typical case of heterogeneous nucleation and growth favored at the complex interface solution/gas/crystal. All this complex phenomenology along with its interpretation can be thought as a first physico-chemical and crystallographic step in ruling practical drawbacks such as the crystal caking and the scale problems.

Subject
Pits, Ions, Nucleation, Cleavage, Calcite, Surfaces, Aqueous solutions, Acetates, Acidity, Supersaturation, Bubbling, Interfaces, Crystal growth
Keywords:
calcite, crystal growth, habit modification, 2D-epitaxy, lithium, acetate, calcite bubbles
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2007
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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