Nucleation and Growth of Calcium Carbonate Picolitre Size Droplets

The ability to control crystallisation is essential in many industries, especially in the pharmaceutical industry where conversion into undesired polymorphs or morphologies can have dangerous consequences. Current synthesis methods involve the use of high pressures and temperatures, but its remains a challenge to control the morphological properties and surface features of the precipitate. Living organisms have the ability to control the size, polymorphism and orientation of minerals. This influences the physical and chemical properties of the crystal and consequently the field of biomineralisation is currently receiving significant interest. Here the crystallisation of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) is influenced by restrictive ion flow within limited volume droplets using picolitre sized-droplets size. It was that the size the droplet and the functionalization of the SAM affect the crystal size and their orientation.