Aizenberg Joanna, Muller David A, Grazul John L, Hamann D R
Bell Laboratories/Lucent Technologies, Murray Hill, NJ 07974, USA.
Science. 2003 Feb 21;299(5610):1205-8. doi: 10.1126/science.1079204.
Micropatterning of single crystals for technological applications is a complex, multistep process. Nature provides alternative fabrication strategies, when crystals with exquisite micro-ornamentation directly develop within preorganized frameworks. We report a bio-inspired approach to growing large micropatterned single crystals. Micropatterned templates organically modified to induce the formation of metastable amorphous calcium carbonate were imprinted with calcite nucleation sites. The template-directed deposition and crystallization of the amorphous phase resulted in the fabrication of millimeter-sized single calcite crystals with sub-10-micron patterns and controlled crystallographic orientation. We suggest that in addition to regulating the shape, micropatterned frameworks act as sites for stress and impurity release during the amorphous-to-crystalline transition. The proposed mechanisms may have direct biological relevance and broad implications in materials synthesis.
用于技术应用的单晶微图案化是一个复杂的多步骤过程。当具有精致微装饰的晶体在预先组织好的框架内直接形成时，自然提供了替代的制造策略。我们报告了一种受生物启发的方法来生长大型微图案化单晶。对微图案化模板进行有机修饰以诱导亚稳态无定形碳酸钙的形成，并在其上印上方解石成核位点。非晶相的模板导向沉积和结晶导致制造出具有亚10微米图案和可控晶体取向的毫米级方解石单晶。我们认为，除了调节形状外，微图案化框架还作为非晶态到晶态转变过程中应力和杂质释放的位点。所提出的机制可能具有直接的生物学相关性，并在材料合成中具有广泛的意义。
