Z. Naturforsch. 2013,
68b, 533 – 538
doi:10.5560/ZNB.2013-3062
Preparation of CaCO3 and CaO Replicas Retaining the Hierarchical Structure of Spruce Wood
Somruedee
Klaithong1,
Daniel
Van Opdenbosch2,
Cordt
Zollfrank2, and
Johann
Plank1
1 Lehrstuhl für Bauchemie, Technische Universität München, 85747 Garching, Lichtenbergstraße 4, Germany
2 Fachgebiet Biogene Polymere, Technische Universität München, 94315 Straubing, Schulgasse 16, Germany
Received February 21, 2013 / published online Juli 2, 2013
Dedicated to Professor Heinrich Nöth on the occasion of his 85th birthday
The principal structural characteristics of softwood (spruce) were replicated in CaCO3 and CaO on various levels of hierarchy from the macroscopic to the submicron scale. Positive replicas were obtained by infiltrating pretreated softwood templates with a Ca(OCOOCH3)2 precursor solution which hydrolyzed into CaCO3 nanoparticles. They reproduce the hierarchical porous structure of the wood template. Calcination at temperatures from 350 to 900 °C yields calcite as the main polymorph. Mechanical stability of the replica is optimized when the specimen is calcined at 900 °C.
Key words: Wood Template, Calcium Carbonate, Submicron Particles, Hierarchical