High-aluminum-affinity silica is a nanoparticle that seeds secondary aluminosilicate formation.

ABSTRACT: Despite the importance and abundance of aluminosilicates throughout our natural surroundings, their formation at neutral pH is, surprisingly, a matter of considerable debate. From our experiments in dilute aluminum and silica containing solutions (pH ~ 7) we previously identified a silica polymer with an extraordinarily high affinity for aluminium ions (high-aluminum-affinity silica polymer, HSP). Here, further characterization shows that HSP is a colloid of approximately 2.4 nm in diameter with a mean specific surface area of about 1,000 m(2) g(-1) and it competes effectively with transferrin for Al(III) binding. Aluminum binding to HSP strongly inhibited its decomposition whilst the reaction rate constant for the formation of the β-silicomolybdic acid complex indicated a diameter between

SUBMITTER: Jugdaohsingh R 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3862809 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature