Ion-association complexes unite classical and non-classical theories for the biomimetic nucleation of calcium phosphate
Open accessAbstract
Despite its importance in many industrial, geological and biological processes, the mechanism of crystallization from supersaturated solutions remains a matter of debate. Recent discoveries show that in many solution systems nanometre-sized structural units are already present before nucleation. Still little is known about the structure and role of these so-called pre-nucleation clusters. Here we present a combination of in situ investigations, which show that for the crystallization of calcium phosphate these nanometre-sized units are in fact calcium triphosphate complexes. Under conditions in which apatite forms from an amorphous calcium phosphate precursor, these complexes aggregate and take up an extra calcium ion to form amorphous calcium phosphate, which is a fractal of Ca(2)(HPO(4))(3)(2-) clusters. The calcium triphosphate complex also forms the basis of the crystal structure of octacalcium phosphate and apatite. Finally, we demonstrate how the existence of these complexes lowers the energy barrier to nucleation and unites classical and non-classical nucleation theories.
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Experiments on Posner clusters have been conducted, but their coherence has not yet been studied experimentally.
“Furthermore, experiments on Posner clusters have been conducted to provide insights into their properties, but their coherence has not yet been studied experimentally [92,93,94,95,96].”
From Quantum Models of Consciousness from a Quantum Information Science Perspective (2025) · cites this paper as [94]
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- Authors
- Habraken, W. J. E. M., Tao, J., Brylka, L. J., Friedrich, H., Bertinetti, L., Schenk, A. S., Verch, A., Dmitrovic, V., Bomans, P. H. H., Frederik, P. M., Laven, J., van der Schoot, P., Aichmayer, B., de With, G., DeYoreo, J. J., & Sommerdijk, N. A. J. M.
- Affiliations
- Eindhoven University of Technology (NL)
- Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (US)
- Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces (DE)
- Corresponding author
- DeYoreo, James J.
- Sommerdijk, Nico A. J. M.
- ORCID
- Venue
- Nature Communications
- Published
- 2013-02-19
- Volume
- 4
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 1507-1507
- ISSN
- 2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1969794321
- Cited by
- 821
- References
- 61
- Citations by year
- 2026: 54 · 2025: 66 · 2024: 79 · 2023: 77 · 2022: 65 · 2021: 76 · 2020: 69 · 2019: 61 · 2018: 68 · 2017: 60 · 2016: 56 · 2015: 26 · 2014: 37 · 2013: 26
- FWCI
- 18.46
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Licence
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- Nature Communications (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- TU/e Research Portal (acceptedVersion, other-oa)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- TU/e Research Portal (submittedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Utrecht University Repository (Utrecht University) (submittedVersion)
- Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics (submittedVersion)
- ERef Bayreuth (University of Bayreuth) (submittedVersion)
- Max Planck Digital Library (submittedVersion)
- HZB Repository (Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH (HZB)) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
- MPG.PuRe (Max Planck Society) (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- U.S. Department of Energy (DE‐AC02‐05CH1123, AC02-05CH1123, DE-AC02-)
- Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek
- National Institutes of Health (DE-AC02-05CH1123)
- Office of Science (DE‐AC02‐05CH1123, DE-AC02)
- National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (R01DK061673, DK61673)
- Basic Energy Sciences (DE-AC02, DE-AC0205CH1123)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Biomaterials › Calcium Carbonate Crystallization and Inhibition
- Physical Sciences › Materials Science › Materials Chemistry › Crystallization and Solubility Studies
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Bone Tissue Engineering Materials
- Keywords
- calcium phosphate crystallization, prenucleation clusters, ion-association complex, amorphous calcium phosphate, octacalcium phosphate, apatite, nucleation barrier, biomimetic mineralization, fractal clusters
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Calcium, Calcium Phosphates, Cattle, Collagen, Hydrogen-Ion Concentration, Ions, Kinetics, Models, Chemical, Models, Molecular, Particle Size, Polymers, Thermodynamics, X-Ray Diffraction, Synchrotrons, Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared, Durapatite, Microscopy, Atomic Force, Cryoelectron Microscopy, Biomimetic Materials, Nanoparticles, Static Electricity
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