On the Stability of Amorphous Minerals in Lobster Cuticle

Abstract

In situ X-ray diffraction during heating of lobster cuticle reveals three regions of thermally induced transformations: 1)Chitin decomposition, 2) amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC) – calcite transformation, and 3) amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) – hydroxyapatite transformation. These results provide new insights into the stabilization mechanisms of amorphous biominerals based on ACC and ACP. Detailed facts of importance to specialist readers are published as ”Supporting Information”. Such documents are peer-reviewed, but not copy-edited or typeset. They are made available as submitted by the authors. Please note: The publisher is not responsible for the content or functionality of any supporting information supplied by the authors. Any queries (other than missing content) should be directed to the corresponding author for the article.