The crystallization on self-assembled monolayers is controlled by their functionality, symmetry or the roughness of the surface. A typical example of symmetry controlled crystallization of CaCO3 is given below, where a surface with a hexagonal symmetry induces the mineralization of vaterite, wheres an orthrhombic surface pattern leads to the nucleation of aragonite.
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Chem. Eur. J. 1998, 4, 1834-43
In contrast, rough surfaces (prepared for example by the binding of colloidal gold particles) lead in general to the nucleation of aragonite.
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Adv. Mater. 1998, 10, 401-404