Synthesis and Morphogenesis of Organic and Inorganic Polymers by Means of Biominerals and Biomimetic Materials

Abstract

We have studied the simultaneous synthesis and morphogenesis of polymer materials with hierarchical structures from nanoscopic to macroscopic scales. The morphologies of the original materials can be replicated to the polymer materials. In general, it is not easy to achieve the simultaneous synthesis and morphogenesis of polymer material even using host materials. In the present work, four biominerals and three biomimetic mesocrystal structures are used as the host materials or templates and polypyrrole, poly(3-hexylthiopehene), and silica were used as the precursors for the simultaneous syntheses and morphogenesis of polymer materials. The host materials with the hierarchical structure possess the nanospace for the incorporation of the monomers. After the incorporation of the monomers, the polymerization reaction proceeds in the nanospace with addition of the initiator agents. Then, the dissolution of the host materials leads to the formation and morphogenesis of the polymer materials. The scheme of the replication can be classified into the three types based on the structures of the host materials (types I-III). The type I template facilitates the hierarchical replication of the whole host material, type II mediates the hierarchical surface replication, and type III induces the formation of the two-dimensional nanosheets. Based on these results, the approach for the coupled synthesis and morphogenesis can be applied to a variety of combinations of the templates and polymer materials.

A critical analysis of calcium carbonate mesocrystals

“…High surface areas provide a further feature that is considered characteristic of mesocrystals, although an enormous range of values (varying from 48 to 540 m 2  g −1 ) has been quoted in the literature for calcite mesocrystals1740. It is also noted that an assessment of mesocrystal structure is very often made without measurement of the surface area, possibly owing to the relatively large quantities of sample required for accurate analysis.…”

Highly Efficient Copper(II) Ion Sorbents Obtained by Calcium Carbonate Mineralization on Functionalized Cross‐Linked Copolymers

“…In biological systems, biominerals are commonly formed in gel‐like extracellular networks that use supramolecular assemblies of organized biomolecules to control the biomineralization process 11. 12 Understanding the biological concepts, mechanisms, functions, and design features and applying them to the development of new synthetic advanced materials and devices makes biomineralization a very attractive subject. Calcium‐based minerals represent more than 50 % of the 60 different known biominerals 13.…”

Composite materials based on poly(N-isopropylacrylamide-co-methacrylic acid) hydrogels and calcium carbonate

“…The third linear region, at high q, is much smaller and has the slope slightly modified as compared to the previous one, so that the mass fractal dimension becomes D m ¼ 2.65. The slope variation can be related to the fingerprint of CaCO 3 The logarithmic graph of NP [1] (not shown here) has several linear areas with different slopes values. In the zone of small q, a slight inflection is observed, making the transition from the slope value of 3.15 to 3.46.…”

“…1 In biological systems, biominerals are commonly formed in gel-like extracellular networks that use supramolecular assemblies of organized biomolecules to control the biomineralization process. 2,3 Understanding the biological concepts, mechanisms, functions, and design features and applying them to the development of new synthetic advanced materials and devices make biomineralization a very attractive subject.…”