Influence of stirring speed on the crystallization of calcium carbonate

Control over crystal morphology of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) was investigated by simply changing the stirring speeds in the process of CaCO3 formation. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements explore the morphology evolution of CaCO3 at varying stirring speeds. As the stirring speeds increase, rhombohedral oalcite, spherical vaterite, and monoclinic crystal with coexistence of calcite phase and vaterite phase were formed, suggesting a facile control over calcium carbonate crystallization in constructing crystals with desired morphology. Moreover, almost pure vaterite spherical particles of narrow particle size distribution were formed at optimum. stirring speed. Finally, also elucidated in this work is the mechanism investigation into the construction of various crystal forms via this simple route. (C) 2009 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim