Synthesis of self-assembled needle-shaped calcium carbonate superstructures

Novel self-assembled calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) crystals exhibiting the morphology of well-defined needles were synthesized by a simple precipitation reaction in the presence of octadecyl dihydrogen phosphate (ODP) as a crystal additive. The CaCO₃ obtained by this method is hydrophobic, making it likely to be used widely in industry. The resulting products were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and contact angle experiments. The results indicated that ODP plays an important role in determining the structure, morphology and hydrophobicity of CaCO₃ crystals.