Article,
Growth of single crystals in structured templates
J. Mater. Chem., 16 (4): 408 -- 416 (January 2006)
Abstract
Biology provides numerous examples of calcite single crystals with
unique morphologies which are completely at odds with the internal
lattice structure of the crystal. We have recently demonstrated that
similar structures can be produced synthetically, using a suitable
mould to template calcite crystal morphologies. We here investigate
the generality of templating approaches to produce single crystals
with complex morphologies. A variety of contrasting crystals were
selected, and precipitated in polymer membranes with sponge-like
structures, under a range of growth conditions. The structures of
the product crystals were investigated using single crystal X-ray
diffraction, and the morphology using scanning electron microscopy.
True single crystal or öligocrystalline" products were obtained
for SrSO4, PbSO4, PbCO3, NaCl and CuSO4.5H(2)O, demonstrating that
calcite is in no way unique in its ability to be moulded into complex
morphologies. The principal requirement for templating single crystals
is simply that the "natural" size of the crystal under the given
growth conditions must exceed the length scale of the template.
