Evidence of surface reconstruction during 'bioinspired' inorganic nucleation at an organic template

X-ray diffraction studies performed during the nucleation of hydrocerussite (PbCO3 · Pb(OH)2) from a supersaturated aqueous solution, at a floating fatty acid monolayer template, reveal (√7 × √7)-R19.1° reconstruction at the (0 0 1) surface of hydrocerussite. Reordering of surface atoms into epitaxial superstructures is thought to require extremely clean surfaces (cleaned electrochemically or under UHV). At this organic-inorganic interface, the organic monolayer relaxes to form an epitaxial match with the reconstructed lattice just below it. We speculate that this lattice match, along with the ion-specific interactions of the monolayer, provide the clean nucleation environment.