Nano-Hydroxyapatite Biomineralization on a Collagen Scaffold (2D)

This is the 2D top-down companion to the 3D scaffold model: the same mechanism engineered nano-HA/collagen scaffolds use for bone tissue engineering, laid flat so the whole fibril bundle and every gap-zone site are visible at once. Nano-hydroxyapatite crystals nucleate at periodic gap-zone sites along collagen fibrils and grow by consuming a shared, finite Ca²⁺/PO₄³⁻ ion reservoir. Nucleation follows classical nucleation theory — its rate rises steeply once Ca²⁺/PO₄³⁻ supersaturation clears the thermodynamic barrier — while each nucleated crystal then grows by diffusion-limited, curvature-dependent (Gibbs–Thomson) kinetics that slow as the crystal enlarges and as the local ion pool empties. Adjust supersaturation, temperature and gap-zone site density to watch mineralization progress from bare fibrils to a saturating, S-shaped mineralization curve plotted live beneath the scaffold — drag to pan and scroll to zoom into individual crystals, and read mineralization degree, crystal count, mean crystal radius and the remaining ion budget at a glance.