Correlative Analysis of Calcium Carbonate Polymorphs in Biological Systems

This webinar demonstrates the power of correlative Raman-AFM and Raman-SEM imaging for combined structural and chemical analyses of biominerals in different biological systems.

Contents

For comprehensive analysis of biominerals it is advantageous to combine techniques for structural and chemical imaging. Raman imaging can identify the molecular components of a sample and even distinguish different polymorphs. It can easily be combined with atomic force microscopy (AFM) or scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for investigating surface structures.

This webinar briefly introduces these techniques and illustrates the power of correlative Raman-AFM and Raman-SEM imaging for analyzing calcium carbonate polymorphs in different biological systems. The presented examples include investigations of the structure and chemical composition of:

• the cuticle of the crustacean Porcellio Scaber
• a milky pearl
• an abalone shell.