Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, 335 Science Road, Daejeon 305-701, Republic of Korea.
Langmuir. 2010 Sep 21;26(18):14730-6. doi: 10.1021/la1027509.
Two biogenic materials from mussels are attracting attention from scientists: calcium carbonate (CaCO(3)), the most widely studied biomineral that composes the shell, or nacre, of mussels, and dopamine, a small catechol-containing biomimetic molecule of adhesive foot proteins secreted by mussels. We have incorporated these two materials into the biomimetic mineralization process to produce stable vaterite microspheres, which are the most unstable crystalline phase of CaCO(3). Spherical vaterite crystals were readily formed within two minutes in the presence of dopamine undergoing polymerization and were preserved for over two months in aqueous solution. The microspheres consisted of nanoparticles smaller than 100 nm and exhibited porous and spherulitic cross sections. The prolonged maintenance of spherical structure is attributed to the affinitive interaction between calcium in the vaterite microspheres and catechols from dopamine retarding the dissolution of vaterite and the growth of calcite crystals. The mussel-inspired inducement of a stable vaterite phase suggests a facile route for the synthesis of complex organic-inorganic hybrid materials utilizing biogenic systems.
碳酸钙（CaCO(3)），这是研究最广泛的生物矿物，构成贻贝的壳或珍珠层；多巴胺，贻贝分泌的一种小的含儿茶酚的仿生分子，用于黏附足蛋白。我们已将这两种材料纳入仿生矿化过程中，以生产稳定的文石微球，这是碳酸钙（CaCO(3)）最不稳定的结晶相。在多巴胺聚合存在的情况下，2 分钟内即可轻松形成球形文石晶体，并在水溶液中保存超过 2 个月。微球由小于 100nm 的纳米颗粒组成，并表现出多孔和球晶状的横截面。球形结构的长时间维持归因于文石微球中钙离子与多巴胺中的儿茶酚之间的亲和相互作用，从而延迟了文石的溶解和方解石晶体的生长。贻贝启发的稳定文石相的诱导为利用生物系统合成复杂的有机-无机杂化材料提供了一种简便的途径。
