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Biomineralization

Crystals competing for space

Nature Materials volume 13, pages 1078–1079 (2014)Cite this article

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Analysis of the growth patterns of calcitic prisms within the shell of the fan mollusc Pinna nobilis shows that growth can be predicted using grain theory and that the organic casings of the prisms set the thermodynamic boundaries.

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Figure 1: Secondary electron images of the calcite prisms and organic casings of the shell of the fan mollusc, Atrina vexillum.
Figure 2: A schematic representation showing the evolution of prism diameter during the growth of calcitic prisms in Pinna nobilis.

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Author notes

  1. Maggie Cusack is in the School of Geographical and Earth Science at the University of Glasgow, Glasgow G12 8QQ, UK

Authors and Affiliations

  1. of the Department of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Nico A. J. M. Sommerdijk is in the Laboratory of Materials and Interface Chemistry & Soft Matter CryoTEM Research Unit, and in the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, at Eindhoven University of Technology, 5600 MB Eindhoven, The Netherlands,

    Nico A. J. M. Sommerdijk

  2. Maggie Cusack

Authors
  1. Nico A. J. M. Sommerdijk
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  2. Maggie Cusack
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Correspondence to Nico A. J. M. Sommerdijk or Maggie Cusack.

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Sommerdijk, N., Cusack, M. Crystals competing for space. Nature Mater 13, 1078–1079 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/nmat4147

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