Morphology modification in freshly Precipitated Calcium Carbonate particles using surfactant-polymer template

Morphology study of synthesized Precipitated Calcium Carbonate (PCC) is done using calcined dolomite (CaO.MgO). These PCC nano-composites were fabricated at ambient temperature using surfactant-polymer template: cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) with different polymers viz., polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), polyvinyl acetate (PVAc) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). In this work, we report the systematic characterization of the modified crystals using these templates by spectral, diffraction, scattering and microscopy techniques. Results obtained provide a reasonable explanation to the influence of the polarity of the polymer on to the templated nucleation where the inclusion of such molecules within the crystal lattice of the host growing crystal influences the overall crystal morphology. Scattering measurements further confirms and compliments the structural changes occupying in calcium carbonate particles with our microscopic findings.