BRIEF RESEARCH REPORT article
Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol.
Sec. Biomaterials
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fbioe.2025.1654712
Casein-Assisted Biomineralization of Calcium Carbonate Microspheres For Enhanced Surface and Adsorption Properties
Provisionally accepted
Aniket K Gade1,2*
Julia Nadrowska2
Joanna Trzcińska-Wencel2
Marek Wiśniewski2Rajesh Raut3
Mahendra Rai4
Patrycja Golinska2- 1Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India
- 2Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika w Toruniu, Torun, Poland
- 3Dr Homi Bhabha State University, Mumbai, India
- 4Universidade Federal do Piaui, Brasilar, Brazil
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Abstract Introduction: Biomineralization is a key biological process by which organisms form mineralized structures, with calcium carbonate being one of the most abundant naturally occurring biominerals. The development of synthetic analogs, particularly calcium carbonate microspheres (CaCO₃-MS), holds potential for various applications, including as carrier materials. Methods: In this study, CaCO₃-MS were synthesized using a precipitation method, both with and without casein. Ammonium, sodium, and potassium carbonate were evaluated as precipitating agents to optimize microsphere formation. The physical properties of the resulting microspheres were characterized using nitrogen adsorption analysis, Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis, Diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFT), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Results: Ammonium carbonate was the most effective precipitating agent, yielding well-formed microspheres. Casein-assisted CaCO₃-MS exhibited a higher specific surface area (65 m²/g) than CaCO₃-MS synthesized without casein (47 m²/g). The casein-containing microspheres also demonstrated a more uniform spherical morphology, increased pore volume, higher surface energy, enhanced hydrophilicity, and approximately double the water adsorption capacity. However, both variants showed similar adsorption-desorption kinetics. Discussion: The presence of casein significantly improved the structural and functional properties of CaCO₃-MS, making them more suitable for use as carrier materials. Furthermore, the described method enables the large-scale, surfactant-free synthesis of uniformly sized microspheres, enhancing its practical applicability.
Keywords: Biomineralization, Calcium Carbonate Microsphere, casein, Scanning electronmicroscopy, Carriers
Received: 26 Jun 2025; Accepted: 08 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Gade, Nadrowska, Trzcińska-Wencel, Wiśniewski, Raut, Rai and Golinska. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Aniket K Gade, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai, India
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