Frontiers in Environmental Chemistry (Jan 2024)

State-of-the-art multimodal scanning hard X-ray imaging and tomography sheds light at multiple length-scales on biomineralization related processes

  • K. Medjoubi,
  • K. Benzerara,
  • J. Debrie,
  • E. Tang,
  • D. Bazin,
  • E. Letavernier,
  • K. Desjardins,
  • A. Somogyi

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvc.2024.1339829
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 5

Abstract

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Biomineralization is a widespread process among living organisms, playing a significant role in the formation and preservation of geological structures, biogeochemical cycles, regulation of ocean chemistry, and carbon sequestration. Moreover pathological biomineralization has a huge impact on human health. The growth of biominerals provides a rich area for research at multiple length-scales since they have controlled hierarchical structures from nano-to macroscopic scales. Here, we provide an overview on the potentials of the state-of-the-art scanning hard X-ray imaging and tomography methods developed at the NANOSCOPIUM beamline at Synchrotron Soleil in such studies. Multimodal scanning imaging provides simultaneous information on the elemental composition by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry, on the sample morphology by absorption contrast imaging, on the crystalline structure by X-ray diffraction, and on the luminescence characteristics by X-ray Excited Optical Luminescence. As illustrated through diverse research cases about biomineralization in stromatolites and pathological calcification, such a versatile portfolio of X-ray imaging techniques provides unique complementary information to conventional laboratory techniques on biominerals and the underlying mineral precipitation processes.

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