Month: April 2020

Saladino, R., Di Mauro, E., & García‐Ruiz, J. M. (2019). A Universal Geochemical Scenario for Formamide Condensation and Prebiotic Chemistry. Chemistry–A European Journal, 25(13), 3181-3189. Download here: https://chemistry-europe.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/chem.201803889 The condensation of formamide has been shown to be a robust chemical pathway affording molecules necessary for the origin of life. It has been experimentally demonstrated that condensation reactions of formamide are catalyzed by a number of minerals, including silicates, phosphates, sulfides, zirconia, and borates, and by cosmic dusts…

Zhang, G., Verdugo-Escamilla, C., Choquesillo-Lazarte, D., & García-Ruiz, J. M. (2018). Thermal assisted self-organization of calcium carbonate. Nature communications, 9(1), 1-7. Download here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-07658-0.pdf Fabrication of mineral multi-textured architectures by self-organization is a formidable challenge for engineering. Current approaches follow a biomimetic route for hybrid materials based on the coupling of carbonate and organic compounds. We explore here the chemical coupling of silica and carbonate, leading to fabrication of inorganic–inorganic biomimetic structures known as silica-carbonate biomorphs. So…

Otálora, F., Mazurier, A., Garcia-Ruiz, J. M., Van Kranendonk, M. J., Kotopoulou, E., El Albani, A., & Garrido, C. J. (2018). A crystallographic study of crystalline casts and pseudomorphs from the 3.5 Ga Dresser Formation, Pilbara Craton (Australia). Journal of applied crystallography, 51(4), 1050-1058.  Download here: https://journals.iucr.org/j/issues/2018/04/00/jo5036/jo5036.pdf Crystallography has a long history of providing knowledge and methods for applications in other disciplines. The identification of minerals using X-ray diffraction is one of the most important contributions of…