2016/09/18 by Eva Weber, Weber, Eva, Boaz Pokroy +1
Materials Science · Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Earth and Planetary Sciences · #Calcium Carbonate Crystallization and Inhibition #Cephalopods and Marine Biology #Paleontology and Stratigraphy of Fossils
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.1609.05463
Many crystals in nature exhibit fascinating mechanical, optical, magnetic and\nother characteristics. One of the reasons for this phenomenon has to do with\nthe presence of specific organic molecules that are tightly associated with the\nmineral. Over the years, some organic crystals have been found to be located\nwithin the lattices of their singlecrystalline biogenic hosts. A number of\nquestions remain unanswered: for example, how do these molecules become\nincorporated and what is their function? In this review we survey the gradual\nrefinement of the above mentioned finding in biogenic crystals, with the object\nof tracing the acquisition of our fundamental knowledge in this field during\nthe last 50 years. We highlight the progress made in understanding the function\nand significance of this intracrystalline organic matter, from the earliest\nobservations of this phenomenon in a biological system to the highly promising\nrecent achievements in bio-inspired material synthesis, where intracrystalline\nmolecules have been used in many studies to synthesize numerous synthetic\nnanohybrid composites with fascinating new properties.\n