Hubei Province Key Laboratory of Green Materials for Light Industry, Collaborative Innovation Center for Green Light-weight Materials and Processing, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, P. R. China.
School of Materials and Chemical Engineering, Hubei University of Technology, Wuhan, 430068, Hubei, P. R. China.
Sci Rep. 2019 Jan 24;9(1):466. doi: 10.1038/s41598-018-36843-w.
The macroscopically ordered structure of rod-like nanoapatites within the collagen matrix is of great significance for the mechanical performance of bones and teeth. However, the synthesis of macroscopically ordered nanoapatite remains a challenge. Inspired by the effect of citrate molecules on apatite crystals in natural bone and the similarities between these ordered rod-like nanoapatites and the nematic phase of inorganic liquid crystals (LCs), we synthesized aqueous liquid crystal from rod-like nanoapatites with the aid of sodium citrate. Following a similar procedure, aqueous Mg(OH) and Mg(PO) LCs were also prepared. These findings lay the foundation for the fabrication of macroscopically assembled nanoapatite-based functional materials for biomedical applications and offer a green chemical synthesis platform for the development of new types of inorganic LCs. This process may reduce the difficulties in synthesizing large quantities of inorganic LCs so that they can be applied to the fabrication of functional materials.
棒状纳米磷灰石在胶原基质中形成的宏观有序结构对骨骼和牙齿的力学性能具有重要意义。然而，宏观有序纳米磷灰石的合成仍然是一个挑战。受柠檬酸分子对天然骨中磷灰石晶体的影响以及这些有序棒状纳米磷灰石与无机液晶（LC）向列相之间相似性的启发，我们在柠檬酸钠的辅助下，用棒状纳米磷灰石合成了水基液晶。通过类似的方法，还制备了水基 Mg(OH) 和 Mg(PO)LC。这些发现为制备用于生物医学应用的基于宏观组装纳米磷灰石的功能材料奠定了基础，并为开发新型无机 LC 提供了一个绿色化学合成平台。这一过程可能会降低大量合成无机 LC 的难度，从而将其应用于功能材料的制备。
