Effect of Impurity on Two-Dimensional Nucleation Kinetics: Case Studies of Magnesium and Zinc on Hydroxyapatite (0001) Face

The effect of impurity on the two-dimensional (2D) nucleation rate, J, was investigated by estimating the edge free energy, γ, on the (0001) face of a hydroxyapatite crystal in the presence of magnesium and zinc as impurities. It was found that edge free energies, γ, at 0.06 mM magnesium and 0.75 μM zinc concentrations were constant and almost the same as that in the absence of impurities in the supersaturation range of σ = 9.8−22.0. This indicates that magnesium and zinc did not affect the energy barrier for 2D nucleation at least up to these concentrations, although these impurities inhibited the growth rate of the (0001) face by adsorbing at kink sites of 2D islands. Taking into account the effect of impurities on J, the adsorption constants K of the Langmuir kink model were calculated as KMg = (1.30 ± 0.2) × 104 L/mol and KZn = (1.23 ± 0.1) × 106 L/mol at σ = 22.0 and 25 °C.