Stable prenucleation mineral clusters are liquid-like ionic polymers

Stable prenucleation mineral clusters are liquid-like ionic polymers

Calcium carbonate is an abundant substance that can be created in several mineral forms by the reaction of dissolved carbon dioxide in water with calcium ions. Through biomineralization, organisms can harness and control this process to form various functional materials that can act as anything from shells through to lenses. The early stages of calcium carbonate formation have recently attracte...

Stable prenucleation calcium carbonate clusters.

Calcium carbonate forms scales, geological deposits, biominerals, and ocean sediments. Huge amounts of carbon dioxide are retained as carbonate ions, and calcium ions represent a major contribution to water hardness. Despite its relevance, little is known about the precipitation mechanism of calcium carbonate, and specified complex crystal structures challenge the classical view on nucleation c...

Nonlinear capacitance and electrochemical response of ionic liquid-ionic polymers

Prenucleation Clusters and Non-classical Nucleation

In this contribution, we review the recent literature on an alternative crystallization pathway involving stable clusters prior to nucleation and show that the prenucleation cluster pathway is a truly non-classical concept of nucleation. Prenucleation clusters are solutes with "molecular" character in aqueous solution. It becomes evident that the stable clusters may have been concealed by the s...

Poly(ionic liquid)s: Polymers expanding classical property profiles

In recent years, polymeric/polymerized ionic liquids or poly(ionic liquid)s (PILs) were found to take an enabling role in some fields of polymer chemistry and material science. PILs combine the unique properties of ionic liquids with the flexibility and properties of macromolecular architectures and provide novel properties and functions that are of huge potential in a multitude of applications...