The growth mechanism of apatite nanocrystals assisted by citrate: relevance to bone biomineralization

Here we report that citrate plays a key dual role in the apatite crystallization: driving a growth pathway via an amorphous precursor and controlling the size of nanocrystals by the non-classical oriented aggregation mechanism. These results provide new insights into bone mineralization, where the role of citrate might be wider than has been thought to date.