Curved inorganic crystals

2009/01/20 Kortabitarte Egiguren, Irati - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Kimika

Researchers from the University of Granada have discovered that inorganic crystals have the ability to take curves without the help of biological molecules, such as proteins, that govern this process in general. 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.

The precipitation of some mineral has been observed according to the pH of the medium in which it is growing. Researchers have monitored these pH changes and observed different curvatures. This work has concluded that it could mimic the growth of certain primitive organisms.

Image courtesy of: CSIC-University of Granada