Shape and structure controlling of calcium oxalate crystals by a combination of additives in the process of biomineralization

Nian Liu; Hao Xie; Hang Ping; Lin Wang; Zewen Liu; Fei Tao; Junhui Guo; Bao-Lian Su

doi:10.1039/c8ra00661j

Shape and structure controlling of calcium oxalate crystals by a combination of additives in the process of biomineralization

RSC Adv. 2018 Mar 20;8(20):11014-11020. doi: 10.1039/c8ra00661j. eCollection 2018 Mar 16.

Authors

Nian Liu^{1

2}, Hao Xie^{1

2}, Hang Ping², Lin Wang¹, Zewen Liu^{1

2}, Fei Tao^{1

2}, Junhui Guo¹, Bao-Lian Su^{2

3}

Affiliations

¹ School of Chemistry, Chemical Engineering and Life Sciences, Wuhan University of Technology Wuhan 430070 China h.xie@whut.edu.cn.
² Laboratory of Living Materials at the State Key Laboratory of Advanced Technology for Materials Synthesis and Processing, Wuhan University of Technology Wuhan 430070 China bao-lian.su@unamur.be.
³ Laboratory of Inorganic Materials Chemistry, University of Namur B-5000 Namur Belgium.

Abstract

The origin of complex hierarchical superstructures of biomaterials and their unique self-assembly mechanisms of formation are important in biological systems and have attracted considerable attention. In the present study, we investigated the morphological changes of calcium oxalate (CaO _x ) crystals induced by additives including chiral aspartic acid, sodium citrate, Mg²⁺, casein and combinations of these molecules. The morphology and structure of CaO _x were identified with the use of various techniques. The morphogenesis of CaO _x crystals were significantly affected by chiral aspartic acid, sodium citrate or Mg²⁺. However, they only formed calcium oxalate monohydrate (COM). It was observed that the chiral aspartic acid, sodium citrate and casein adhered to the surface of the crystals. The adherence of Mg²⁺ to crystals was not evident. Casein significantly affected the formation of COM and calcium oxalate dihydrate (COD). The ratio of different CaO _x crystal forms is associated with the casein concentration. In combination with Mg²⁺ or citrate ions, casein showed improved formation of COD. The present study mimics biomineralization with a simple chemical approach and provides insight into the complicated system of CaO _x biomineralization as well as facilitates the understanding of urinary stone treatment.