The effect of magnesium substitution on the hardness of synthetic and biogenic calcite

Biogenic minerals often contain inorganic and organic impurities that are believed to harden and toughen the material. However, because of the complexity of these systems, it is difficult to deconvolute the effect of each of these impurities on the hardness of the material. We have created single-cr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:MRS communications 2012-09, Vol.2 (3), p.113-116
Main Authors: Kunitake, Miki E., Baker, Shefford P., Estroff, Lara A.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biomaterials
Characterization and Evaluation of Materials
Materials Engineering
Materials Science
Nanotechnology
Polymer Sciences
Research Letters
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Summary:Biogenic minerals often contain inorganic and organic impurities that are believed to harden and toughen the material. However, because of the complexity of these systems, it is difficult to deconvolute the effect of each of these impurities on the hardness of the material. We have created single-crystal samples with a range of magnesium concentrations and measured their hardness while controlling for orientation. We find that hardness increases linearly with magnesium content and that magnesium impurities could account for ~20% of the increased hardness in biogenic calcite from the mollusk Atrina rigida when compared with pure geologic calcite.
ISSN:2159-6859
2159-6867
DOI:10.1557/mrc.2012.20