Importance of water in the control of calcite crystal growth by organic molecules

Abstract

The binding conformation of aspartic acid (Asp) at the calcite surface is strongly affected by the structure of the surrounding water. On the {104} plane, Asp binds directly to the acute step edge, but not to the obtuse step edge, reflecting a difference in the structure of water near the step edge. This selective binding to the acute step edge causes a change in the step morphology on the {104} plane when Asp is added to real systems.