Lijun Ji,Mindong Gong,Tong Xu,Jun Gu,Xu Jiang,Taotao Liang,Yu Chen,Qingren Liu
The interactions of ions and molecules with material surface are highly dependent on the surface properties of the material. Therefore, the distribution of ions or molecules near the material surface may be affected by the surface properties. This phenomenon can be significant enough for controlling the structure of a material synthesized in the sub-micrometer scale confinement space of a template. This work confirms that inverse opals are perfect templates for offering confinement space, while their different surface properties can strongly affect ion and block copolymer distribution in the confinement space. This surface effect principle can be used for the controlled synthesis of colloids with complex composition. As an example, four kinds of mesoporous magnetic bioactive glass colloids with ordered mesopores, core–shell structure, open surface pores, or disordered mesopores are prepared by using polystyrene and carbon inverse opal templates. This work reveals that inverse opal templates possess great advantage in controlled synthesizing colloidal structures due to their surface effect on ions and molecules and confinement space.
The evolution of amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) into crystals in ethanol/water binary solvents under ambient temperature was investigated, and it was found to depend on the volume ratio of ethanol to water (R). Calcite remained dominant when the amount of water was high (R = 1/3). A slight change in the amount of ethanol (R = 3/1) could lead to a dramatic change in the polymorph from calcite to aragonite. However, when poly (allylamine hydrochloride) (PAH) was added at R = 3/1, almost pure vaterite could be obtained, which has a specific morphological variation (from hollow microspheres to cloud-like). This study provides an alternative polymorphic route for the CaCO 3 mineral by using the evolution of ACC in different solvent environments, which provides some useful clues for understanding the importance of kinetic control of the morphologies and polymorphs of a wide range of inorganic materials. In addition, this simple mild phase-controlled synthetic method could be scaled up as a green chemistry route for the industrial production of different polymorphs of CaCO 3 .
Nowadays, the treatment of osteoarthritis (OA), a highly prevalent joint disorder, remains a medical challenge because of the lack of understanding of its pathogenesis. In this work, we developed an alternative strategy of OA treatment using magnesium-based materials as potential therapeutic agent towards subchondral bone remodeling. We selected deer antlers as the animal model where calcification behaviors could provide interesting references for the rapid and reproducible endochondral bone growth. Extremely high content of Mg was detected in the antler, which was able to affect the evolutions of biological apatite. Herein, octacalcium phosphate (OCP) and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP), which are critically involved in the calcification process, were respectively synthesized under the Mg-containing conditions to understand the role of Mg in the evolution of biological apatite. Results showed that the substitution of Mg 2+ at lower contents stabilized OCP and ACP, while higher contents of Mg inhibited the formation of both phases. The size of both calcium phosphates was also altered significantly by the addition of Mg. The results of cell culture indicated that excess Mg notably accelerated the secretion of extracellular matrix and inhibited the mineralization of chondrocyte matrix. Hence, utilization of Mg-based materials in subchondral bone was supposed to provide a potential therapeutic approach to treat the OA by inhibiting subchondral of ossification process.
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