Journal of Crystal Growth, Vol.450, 148-159, 2016
Heterogeneous growth of calcite at aragonite {001}- and vaterite {001}-melt interfaces: A molecular dynamics simulation study
Crystal growth at the interface between a calcium carbonate (CaCO3) crystal and its melt at a high temperature of 1500 K is investigated by means of a molecular dynamics simulation. The simulation is performed for the interfaces of a calcite {104} plane, aragonite {001}, {100}, and {010} planes, and vaterite {001}, {110}, and {100} planes. The growth from a pure melt and that from a melt containing Mg2+ are examined. Calcite growth occurs on the calcite {104} plane, aragonite growth occurs on the aragonite {100}, and {010} planes, and vaterite growth occurs on the vaterite {110} and {100} planes. However, the heterogeneous growth of calcite occurs on the {001} plane of aragonite and vaterite, irrespective of the presence of Mg2+. The results advance our understanding of geological processes that occur at high temperature, such as the formation of CaCO3 crystals from carbonatite magma and the formation of marble. Moreover, the results provide useful information for the control of CaCO3 crystal formation in material design. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.