Curved inorganic crystals

2009/02/01 Elhuyar Zientzia Iturria: Elhuyar aldizkaria

• Kimika

Researchers at the University of Granada have discovered the ability of inorganic crystals to take curves. This is not common in the inorganic world. Normally, the curved forms observed in nature are due to the action of living beings. Juan Manuel García-Ruiz, from the University of Granada, and his team have observed the growth of crystals in a barium or strontium carbonate dissolution in the presence of silica.

Precipitation of one or another mineral has been observed depending on the medium of the pH in which this crystal grows. Researchers have monitored these pH changes and observed different curvatures. This process has concluded that it could mimic the growth of certain primitive organisms.