Graphene Oxide Inhibits Calcium Carbonate Nucleation

Formation of minerals such as calcium carbonate often causes energy consumption and even safety risk increase due to the hindrance on heat/mass transfer. However, the current antiscalants are not efficient enough because of the poor understanding of the scale inhibition mechanisms. Here, we report an ultrahigh-performance antiscalant, graphene oxide (GO), which exhibits an outstanding nucleation inhibition effect far better than the current state-of-the-art antiscalants even on a subppm dosage. Our experiments reveal that the superior nucleation inhibition effect of GO is attributed to its limiting effect on the nucleation kinetics of ions and its ability to increase the nucleation barrier of calcium carbonate by altering the normal pathway of calcium carbonate polymorph formation. Further analysis indicates that the ion-limiting effect and the polymorph control ability of GO may stem from its oxygen functional group-rich surface chemistry and two-dimensional (2D) planar features, which endow GO with a Ca²⁺ binding ability and additional steric hindrance for CO₃^2- diffusion, respectively.