MINERALIZATION PATHWAYS OF CALCIUM-BASED MINERALS: EFFECTS OF SUPERSATURATION PROFILE AND ADDITIVES

Date

2025-8-26

Author

Gülmez, Özgür

Metadata

Show full item record

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Item Usage Stats

1206
views

0
downloads

Cite This

Calcium-based minerals, such as calcium phosphates and calcium carbonates, hold significant biological and geological importance, making them central topics in crystallization research. As a key inorganic material, the calcium phosphate family, particularly in its apatitic structure, constitutes the primary component of animal hard tissues. Despite its critical role, the precise mechanisms underlying its formation remain elusive. Understanding these processes is vital for addressing pathological calcification and bone demineralization, which are pressing health concerns, and for advancing new treatment technologies. Calcium carbonate, one of the most abundant minerals in nature, serves as a widely studied model system in crystallization. Its geological and industrial significance make it an excellent candidate for exploring mineral formation and phase transformation mechanisms. This thesis investigates the mineralization pathways of calcium phosphate and calcium carbonate minerals by combining in situ potentiometric measurements with complementary solid phase characterization. The first study focuses on formation of amorphous calcium phosphate and its transformation to hydroxyapatite by varying the order of initial precursor addition. In situ measurements of pH and calcium activity, combined with solid-phase characterization, provide insights into these processes. The study also explores the influence of additives, including citrate and bovine serum albumin, on hydroxyapatite mineralization. The second part examines calcium carbonate crystallization, focusing on morphological and structural transformations induced by the calcium-transport protein Fetuin-A. Advanced characterization techniques, including Coherent X-ray Diffraction Imaging (CXDI), are used to investigate the 3D morphology and internal structures of calcium carbonate microparticles. These findings contribute to a deeper understanding of the mineralization pathways of biologically and geologically relevant calcium-based minerals and their interactions with biological additives, offering perspectives for biomedical and material science applications.

Subject Keywords

Calcium phosphates, Calcium carbonate, Solution chemistry, Additives

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/115648

Collections

Graduate School of Natural and Applied Sciences, Thesis