Skip to main content

The role of biopolymers in controlling mineral nucleation pathways and aggregation kinetics


EMSL Project ID
60628

Abstract

Biopolymers are one of the most important regulators in controlling crystallization processes. They guide nucleation and growth by binding ions and/or templating mineral interfaces and alter particle aggregation kinetics by adsorbing on the particle surface. However, the complexity of particle-biopolymer interactions and the paucity of methods to probe them render a quantitative understanding of the interactions and their effects difficult to achieve. To address this gap in understanding, the overall aim of this proposal is to determine the mechanisms by which the interaction between organic components and both inorganic constituents and surfaces stabilize adsorbed organic matter and alter pathways of crystal nucleation and growth by utilizing EMSL’s capabilities to directly probe crystallization and aggregation processes in situ at nm resolution. In order to achieve the goal, we will apply two systems (CaCO3 and metal oxides) for the studies of nucleation and growth via particle assembly, respectively. We have two specific aims: (1) We will probe the impact of de novo designed proteins on CaCO3 nucleation pathways. Specially, we will study nucleation and aggregative growth kinetics of CaCO3 in the presence of proteins, probe the configuration and strength of Ca2+-protein binding, determine the location and content of proteins in calcite, and calculate calcite-protein binding energies. (2) We will interrogate the impact of adsorbed biopolymers on mineral-solution interfacial structure and assembly. Specially, using peptide-mimetics (peptoids) that allow us to systematically vary sequence, we will investigate the molecular scale interfacial solution structure, interparticle forces, and particle assembly dynamics vs. choice of peptoid sequence and electrolyte type and concentration using metal oxides (TiO2 and ZnO) particles as model systems due to their well-defined and well-studied surfaces.

Project Details

Start Date
2022-11-04
End Date
2023-09-30
Status
Closed

Team

Principal Investigator

James De Yoreo
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Co-Investigator(s)

Dongsheng Li
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Maria Sushko
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Zheming Wang
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Team Members

Jaeyoung Heo
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Yuna Bae
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Hyoju Park
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Biao Jin
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Zexi Lu
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Lili Liu
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory

Christopher Mundy
Institution
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory