Synthesis of hierarchical calcium carbonate particles

Recently, synthesis of hierarchically structured porous materials gained particular interest for various industrial applications. As a biocompatible and chemically stable material, hierarchical CaCO3 structures formed by ordered aggregation and growth of nanocrystals offer significant advantages for structural and biomedical use compared to their currently-used alternatives. During solution processing, incorporating doping agents to calcium positions or altering CaCO3 supersaturation, new crystals can heterogeneously nucleate on previously formed nuclei, leading to particle growth in a hierarchical manner. In this study, hierarchical CaCO3 microparticles were synthesized at temperatures below 100 °C by an additive-modified precipitation approach. The morphology and crystal structure of the CaCO3 particles were determined by electron microscopy (SEM and TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). By varying additive content and temperature, morphologies including hollow microspheres, crab-like and flower-like particles were successfully obtained