Chemical-garden formation, morphology, and composition. I. Effect of the nature of the cations

We have grown chemical gardens in different sodium silicate solutions from several metal-ion salts--calcium chloride, manganese chloride, cobalt chloride, and nickel sulfate--with cations from period 4 of the periodic table. We have studied their formation process using photography, examined the morphologies produced using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and analyzed chemical compositions using X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) to understand better the physical and chemical processes involved in the chemical-garden reaction. We have identified different growth regimes in these salts that are dependent on the concentration of silicate solution and the nature of the cations involved.     

Review of the Book by A. D. Garnovskii,I. S. Vasil'chenko,and D. A. Garnovskii "Modern Aspects of the Synthesis of Metal Complexes. The Main Ligands and Methods", Rostov-on-Don: LaPO, 2000, 354 p.

Russian Journal of Coordination Chemistry -