Conti et al. (2026): Molecular Views of Mineral Carbonation: Reaction of CO₂ with the Wollastonite (100) Surface

Andrea Conti, Luca Lezuo, Alexander Hoheneder, Elena Vaníčková, Domitilla Alessandra Aloi, Andreas Steiger-Thirsfeld, David Heuser, Rainer Abart, Florian Mittendorfer, Michael Schmid, Ulrike Diebold, Giada Franceschi, IN: ACS Nano, https://doi.org/10.1021/acsnano.5c19629

The carbonation of silicate minerals is a key process in the Earth’s carbon cycle and offers a promising avenue for long-term CO₂ sequestration. However, the atomistic mechanisms by which CO₂ is activated at silicate surfaces remain poorly understood, largely due to the intrinsic complexity and insulating nature of these materials. To close this gap, wollastonite (CaSiO₃) is used as a model system. Noncontact atomic force microscopy (nc-AFM) with functionalized tips is combined with density functional theory (DFT) to investigate its lowest-energy (100) surface under ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). Upon cleaving the mineral in UHV, water vapor is released from the sample and spontaneously readsorbs into a previously unreported, exceptionally stable configuration.

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