Sweet on biomineralization: effects of carbohydrates on the early stages of calcium carbonate crystallization

The present study aims to elucidate the effects of different carbohydrates on the early stages of calcium carbonate mineralization by following a systematic potentiometric titration-based approach. Distinct mono-, oligo- and polysaccharides were evaluated with respect to their influence on the formation of solute pre-nucleation clusters, the nucleation process itself, and the solubility of the initially precipitated phase. By assaying 29 carbohydrates, we show that sugar stereochemistry, polarity, presence of Ca2+ binding sites, as well as the nature of glycosidic linkages can play an important role in the interactions between the additives and the mineral species occurring in the course of CaCO3 crystallization from solution.