Yao Y, Ren J, Li H. Multi-Functionalization of Single crystals Mediated by Gel-Incorporation: A Bioinspired Strategy.
Chempluschem 2023;
88:e202300228. [PMID:
37529945 DOI:
10.1002/cplu.202300228]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2023] [Revised: 07/21/2023] [Accepted: 07/26/2023] [Indexed: 08/03/2023]
Abstract
Biominerals are inherently organic-inorganic crystal composites. Drawing inspiration from this biomineral structure, functionalized single crystals can be synthesized using the gel-grown method, resulting in the incorporation of gel-networks into the host crystals. By incorporating gel-networks, diverse guest materials, such as nanoparticles and dye molecules, can be uniformly and isotropically distributed within the crystals, thereby imparting non-intrinsic optical or magnetic properties to the host crystals. Additionally, gel-incorporation enhances the toughness and stability of the crystals as the incorporated gel-fibers and accompanying guest materials act as bridges to prevent crack propagation. Furthermore, gel-incorporation enables protein crystals to exhibit self-healing properties, which can be attributed to the dynamic bonding interaction between gel-networks and crystals. Notably, recent research has demonstrated that the incorporation of zwitterionic gel-networks enhances the charge effects on crystal morphology evolution as the charged groups become bound to the developing crystal surfaces, and their detachment is impeded by the interconnected gel-networks. Therefore, preparing single crystals with gel-incorporation is a remarkable strategy for synthesizing functionalized crystal materials.
Collapse