Preparation and Formation Mechanisms of Calcium Carbonate Fractal Aggregates in Agar Gel

Fractal growth of calcium carbonate was found in 2D agar gels. Remarkable morphological evolution of calcite from crystalline to ramified aggregates to tree-like fractal aggregates as induction time increased has been observed. Marked morphological and dimension changes of crystals were observed to be dependent on the concentration of agar and precipitator. Although, the sizes of tree-like fractal aggregates consisting of global blocks and cubical crystals also changed, all the crystals were identified to be orthorhombic CaCO3 crystals. The experimental results reveal that fractal growth could occur successfully in agar gels, which was influenced by the polar groups of agar, network-like structure of amylase and pervasion of precipitators, and so on.