Calcium bicarbonate crystals synthesised for first time
By 
Mason Wakley2025-10-21T13:30:00
Scientists fill ‘historical gap in textbooks’ to resolve the crystal structure of this simple yet elusive mineral
Crystals of calcium bicarbonate have finally been synthesised, nearly 200 years after the mineral was first proposed to exist. The researchers say that obtaining and resolving the structure of such crystals ‘addresses a historical gap in both textbooks and contemporary research’.
Calcium bicarbonate (Ca(HCO3)2) is a well–known, water–soluble mineral. However, previous attempts to isolate crystals of the mineral from solution have failed, owing to the mineral’s tendency to decompose into more stable calcium carbonate (CaCO3) upon evaporation of water.