A Bio-Inspired Approach to Functional Composite Crystals

纳米复合材料是一类令人兴奋的材料，在纳米和介观尺度上设计成分、结构和性能的能力有望实现多功能和新颖的性能。该项目将开发一种新的策略来制造具有独特结构的纳米复合材料--包含从小分子到纳米颗粒(NP)的闭塞的单晶。我们方法的灵感来自于生物矿物的非凡结构和性质，特别是它们的复合结构。即使是单晶生物矿物也是蛋白质嵌入晶格的无机/有机复合材料。因此，虽然结晶法传统上用于提纯材料，但大自然告诉我们，在适当的条件下，添加剂可以被有效地封闭。这个博士项目包括三个子项目(1)我们将利用无机/有机复合结构的晶体来产生多孔性晶体。碳酸钙晶体在一系列有机分子的存在下会被沉淀，导致它们在晶体结构中被遮挡。然后，这些晶体将被退火，以产生多孔性晶体。将探索各种有机添加剂和加热制度，以给出最佳结果。这为调整矿物的密度和折射率提供了一种新颖而简单的合成策略。(2)我们的策略还将用于创造具有结构色彩的矿物。尺寸不同的亚微米颗粒将被遮挡在单晶和多晶颗粒中，目的是调节这些颗粒的颜色。将探索颗粒大小、密度和颗粒在晶体中的位置的影响，作为控制晶体颜色的一种手段。(3)碳酸钙的工业生产采用以氢氧化钙为基础的合成法。我们将探索如何将这种生产“沉淀碳酸钙”的方法应用于合成复合晶体，使我们的反应策略能够放大并应用于工业。

Nanocomposites are an exciting class of materials, where the ability to engineer compositions, structures and properties at the nanoscale and mesoscale promises multi-functionality and novel properties. This project will develop a new strategy for fabricating nanocomposites with unique structures - single crystals containing occlusions ranging from small molecules to nanoparticles (NPs). The inspiration for our approach comes from the remarkable structures and properties of biominerals, and in particular their composite structures. Even single crystal biominerals are inorganic/ organic composites in which proteins are embedded within the crystal lattice. Thus, although crystallisation is traditionally used for purifying materials, nature shows us that additives can be efficiently occluded under appropriate conditions. This PhD project comprises three sub-projects(1) We will profit from crystals with composite inorganic/ organic structures to generate porous crystals. Calcium carbonate crystals will be precipitated in the presence of a range of organic molecules, leading to their occlusion within the crystal structure. The crystals will then be annealed to generate porous crystals. A wide range of oraic additives and heating regimes will be explored to give optimal results. This offers a novel and simple synthetic strategy for tailoring the densities and refractive indices of minerals.(2) Our strategy will also be used to create minerals that exhibit structural colour. Sub-micron particles with a range of sizes will be occluded in single crystal and polycrystalline particles with the goal of tuning the colour of these particles. The influence of the particle size, the density andlocation of the particles within the crystals will be explored as a means of controlling the colours of the crystals.(3) Calcium carbonate is produced on an industrial scale using a synthesis based on calcium hydroxide. We will explore how this method of producing "precipitated calcium carbonate" can be applied to the synthesis of composite crystals, enabling our reaction strategies to be scaled-up and employed in industry.