Thermally induced fragmentation of nanoscale calcite.

Calcite nanorods ∼50 nm wide are thermally separated into nanoblocks. The fragmentation is ascribed to the ion diffusion on metastable crystal surfaces at temperatures (∼400 °C) much lower than the melting point. The presence of water molecules enhances the surface diffusion and induces deformation of the nanorods even at ∼60 °C.