TY - JOUR A1 - Karafiludis, Stephanos A1 - Scoppola, E. A1 - Wolf, S.E. A1 - Kochovski, Z. A1 - Matzdorff, D. A1 - Van Driessche, A. E. S. A1 - Hövelmann, J. A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Stawski, Tomasz M. T1 - Evidence for liquid-liquid phase separation during the early stages of Mg-struvite formation N2 - The precipitation of struvite, a magnesium ammonium phosphate hexahydrate (MgNH₄PO₄ · 6H₂O) mineral, from wastewater is a promising method for recovering phosphorous. While this process is commonly used in engineered environments, our understanding of the underlying mechanisms responsible for the formation of struvite crystals remains limited. Specifically, indirect evidence suggests the involvement of an amorphous precursor and the occurrence of multi-step processes in struvite formation, which would indicate non-classical paths of nucleation and crystallization. In this study, we use synchrotron-based in situ x-ray scattering complemented by cryogenic transmission electron microscopy to obtain new insights from the earliest stages of struvite formation. The holistic scattering data captured the structure of an entire assembly in a time-resolved manner. The structural features comprise the aqueous medium, the growing struvite crystals, and any potential heterogeneities or complex entities. By analysing the scattering data, we found that the onset of crystallization causes a perturbation in the structure of the surrounding aqueous medium. This perturbation is characterized by the occurrence and evolution of Ornstein-Zernike fluctuations on a scale of about 1 nm, suggesting a non-classical nature of the system. We interpret this phenomenon as a liquid-liquid phase separation, which gives rise to the formation of the amorphous precursor phase preceding actual crystal growth of struvite. Our microscopy results confirm that the formation of Mg-struvite includes a short-lived amorphous phase, lasting >10 s. KW - Physical and theoretical chemistry KW - Non-classical crystallization KW - Struvite KW - Liquid-liquid-phase-separation KW - Nucleation KW - Crystallization KW - In-situ scattering PY - 2023 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-584766 DO - https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0166278 SN - 1089-7690 VL - 159 IS - 13 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - AIP Publishing CY - Woodbury, NY AN - OPUS4-58476 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stawski, Tomasz A1 - Smales, Glen Jacob A1 - Scoppola, E. A1 - Jha, D. A1 - Morales, L. F. G. A1 - Moya, A. A1 - Wirth, R. A1 - Pauw, Brian Richard A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Van Driessche, A. E. S. T1 - Seeds of imperfection rule the mesocrystalline disorder in natural anhydrite single crystals N2 - In recent years, we have come to appreciate the astounding intricacies associated with the formation of minerals from ions in aqueous solutions. In this context, a number of studies have revealed that the nucleation of calcium sulfate systems occurs nonclassically, involving the aggregation and reorganization of nanosized prenucleation species. In recent work, we have shown that this particle-mediated nucleation pathway is actually imprinted in the resultant micrometer-sized CaSO4 crystals. This property of CaSO4 minerals provides us with the unique opportunity to search for evidence of nonclassical nucleation pathways in geological environments. In particular, we focused on large anhydrite Crystals extracted from the Naica Mine in Mexico. We were able to shed light on this mineral's growth history by mapping defects at different length scales. Based on this, we argue that the nanoscale misalignment of the structural subunits, observed in the initial calcium sulfate crystal seeds, propagates through different length scales both in morphological, as well as in strictly crystallographic aspects, eventually causing the formation of large mesostructured single crystals of anhydrite. Hence, the nonclassical nucleation mechanism introduces a “seed of imperfection,” which leads to a macroscopic “single” crystal whose fragments do not fit together at different length scales in a self-similar manner. Consequently, anisotropic voids of various sizes are formed with very welldefined walls/edges. However, at the same time, the material retains in part its single crystal nature. KW - Calcium sulfate KW - Anhydrite KW - Mesocrystal KW - Nucleation KW - Naica PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2111213118 SN - 0027-8424 VL - 118 IS - 48 SP - 1 EP - 11 PB - National Academy of Sciences (USA) CY - Washington AN - OPUS4-53820 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - GEN A1 - Stawski, Tomasz A1 - Smales, Glen Jacob A1 - Scoppola, E. A1 - Jha, D. A1 - Morales, L. F. G. A1 - Moya, A. A1 - Wirth, R. A1 - Pauw, Brian Richard A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Van Driessche, A. E. S. T1 - Supplementary data set for "Seeds of imperfection rule the mesocrystalline disorder in natural anhydrite single crystals" N2 - In recent years, we have come to appreciate the astounding intricacy of the formation process of minerals from ions in aqueous solutions. In this context, a number of studies have revealed that nucleation in the calcium sulfate system is non-classical, involving the aggregation and reorganization of nanosized prenucleation particles. In a recent work we have shown that this particle-mediated nucleation pathway is actually imprinted in the resultant single micron-sized CaSO4 crystals. This property of CaSO4 minerals provides us with an unique opportunity to search for evidence of non-classical nucleation pathways in geological environments. In particular, we focused on the quintessential single crystals of anhydrite extracted from the Naica mine in Mexico. We elucidated the growth history from this mineral sample by mapping growth defects at different length scales. Based on these data we argue that the nano-scale misalignment of the structural sub-units observed in the initial calcium sulfate crystal seed propagate through different length-scales both in morphological, as well as strictly crystallographic aspects, eventually causing the formation of large mesostructured single crystals of anhydrite. Hence, the nanoparticle mediated nucleation mechanism introduces a 'seed of imperfection', which leads to a macroscopic single crystal, in which its fragments do not fit together at different length-scales in a self-similar manner. Consequently, anisotropic voids of various sizes are formed with very well-defined walls/edges. But, at the same time the material retains its essential single crystal nature. These findings shed new light on the longstanding concept of crystal structure. KW - Calcium sulfate KW - Mesocrystal KW - Anhydrite PY - 2021 DO - https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4943234 PB - Zenodo CY - Geneva AN - OPUS4-53765 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Karafiludis, Stephanos A1 - Kochovski, Z. A1 - Scoppola, E. A1 - Retzmann, Anika A1 - Hodoroaba, Vasile-Dan A1 - ten Elshof, J. E. A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Stawski, Tomasz Maciej T1 - Nonclassical Crystallization Pathway of Transition Metal Phosphate Compounds N2 - Here, we elucidate nonclassical multistep crystallization pathways of transition metal phosphates from aqueous solutions. We followed precipitation processes of M-struvites, NH4MPO4·6H2O, and M-phosphate octahydrates, M3(PO4)2·8H2O, where M = Ni, Co, or NixCo1–x, by using in situ scattering and spectroscopy-based techniques, supported by elemental mass spectrometry analyses and advanced electron microscopy. Ni and Co phosphates crystallize via intermediate colloidal amorphous nanophases, which change their complex structures while agglomerating, condensing, and densifying throughout the extended reaction times. We reconstructed the three-dimensional morphology of these precursors by employing cryo-electron tomography (cryo-ET). We found that the complex interplay between metastable amorphous colloids and protocrystalline units determines the reaction pathways. Ultimately, the same crystalline structure, such as struvite, is formed. However, the multistep process stages vary in complexity and can last from a few minutes to several hours depending on the selected transition metal(s), their concentration, and the Ni/Co ratio. KW - Non-classical crystallization theory KW - Transition metals KW - Phosphates KW - Amorphous phases KW - Intermediate phases PY - 2023 DO - https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c02346 SN - 1520-5002 VL - 35 IS - 24 SP - 10645 EP - 10657 PB - American Chemical Society (ACS) CY - Washington D.C. AN - OPUS4-59135 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Martins, Ines A1 - Al-Sabbagh, Dominik A1 - Bentrup, U. A1 - Marquardt, Julien A1 - Schmid, Thomas A1 - Scoppola, E. A1 - Kraus, Werner A1 - Stawski, Tomasz A1 - de Oliveira Guilherme Buzanich, Ana A1 - Yusenko, Kirill A1 - Weidner, Steffen A1 - Emmerling, Franziska T1 - Formation Mechanism of a Nano-Ring of Bismuth Cations and Mono-Lacunary Keggin-Type Phosphomolybdate N2 - A new hetero-bimetallic polyoxometalate (POM) nano-ring was synthesized in a one-pot procedure. The structure consists of tetrameric units containing four bismuth-substituted monolacunary Keggin anions including distorted [BiO8] cubes. The nano-ring is formed via self-assembly from metal precursors in aqueous acidic medium. The compound (NH4)16[(BiPMo11O39)4] ⋅ 22 H2O; (P4Bi4Mo44) was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction, extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy (EXAFS), Raman spectroscopy, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF), and thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry mass spectrometry (TG-DSC-MS). The formation of the nano-ring in solution was studied by time-resolved in situ small- and wide-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS/WAXS) and in situ EXAFS measurements at the Mo−K and the Bi−L3 edge indicating a two-step process consisting of condensation of Mo-anions and formation of Bi−Mo-units followed by a rapid self-assembly to yield the final tetrameric ring structure. KW - Bismuth KW - In situ EXAFS KW - In situ SAXS/WAXS KW - Lacunary Keggin ion KW - Polyoxometalates KW - Self-assembly PY - 2022 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-546823 DO - https://doi.org/10.1002/chem.202200079 SN - 0947-6539 VL - 28 IS - 27 SP - 1 EP - 7 PB - Wiley-VCH CY - Weinheim AN - OPUS4-54682 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Stawski, Tomasz A1 - Karafiludis, Stephanos A1 - Pimentel, Carlos A1 - Montes-Hernández, German A1 - Kochovski, Zdravko A1 - Bienert, Ralf A1 - Weimann, Karin A1 - Emmerling, Franziska A1 - Scoppola, Ernesto A1 - Van Driessche, Alexander E.S. T1 - Solution-driven processing of calcium sulfate: The mechanism of the reversible transformation of gypsum to bassanite in brines N2 - Here, we show that calcium sulfate dihydrate (gypsum) can be directly, rapidly and reversibly converted to calcium sulfate hemihydrate (bassanite) in high salinity solutions (brines). The optimum conditions for the efficient production of bassanite in a short time (<5 min) involve the use of brines with c(NaCl) > 4 M and maintaining a temperature, T > 80 °C. When the solution containing bassanite crystals is cooled down to around room temperature, eventually gypsum is formed. When the temperature is raised again to T > 80 °C, bassanite is rapidly re-precipitated. This contrasts with the better-known behaviour of the bassanite phase in low-salt environments. In low-salinity aqueous solutions, bassanite is considered to be metastable with respect to gypsum and anhydrite, and therefore gypsum-to-bassanite conversion does not occur in pure water. Interestingly, the high-salinity transformation of gypsum-to-bassanite has been reported by many authors and used in practice for several decades, although its very occurrence actually contradicts numerical thermodynamic predictions regarding solubility of calcium sulfate phases. By following the evolution of crystalline phases with in situ and time-resolved X-ray diffraction/scattering and Raman spectroscopy, we demonstrated that the phase stability in brines at elevated temperatures was inaccurately represented in the thermodynamic databases. Most notably for c(NaCl) > 4 M, and T > 80 °C gypsum becomes readily more soluble than bassanite, which induces the direct precipitation of the latter from gypsum. The fact that these transformations are controlled by the solution provides extensive opportunities for precise manipulation of crystal formation. Our experiments confirmed that bassanite remained the sole crystalline phase for many hours before reverting into gypsum. This property is extremely advantageous for practical processing and efficient crystal extraction in industrial scenarios. KW - Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering KW - Strategy and Management KW - General Environmental Science KW - Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment KW - Building and Construction KW - Calcium sulfate KW - Gypsum KW - Bassanite KW - Scattering KW - Raman KW - In situ KW - Synchrotron KW - BESSY KW - MySpot PY - 2024 UR - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:kobv:b43-594698 UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0959652624004591#appsec1 DO - https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2024.141012 SN - 0959-6526 VL - 440 SP - 1 EP - 12 PB - Elsevier B.V. AN - OPUS4-59469 LA - eng AD - Bundesanstalt fuer Materialforschung und -pruefung (BAM), Berlin, Germany ER -