Tiny crystal vases

Nanowerk  August 13, 2022
Skeletal or concave polyhedral crystals appear in a variety of synthetic processes and natural environments. However, their morphology, size, and orientation are difficult to control because of their highly kinetic growth character. Researchers in Japan have developed a new method to produce micrometer-scale single crystals in the form of hollow vessels. Upon drop-casting of a heated ethanol solution onto a quartz substrate, the molecules spontaneously assembled into standing vessel-shaped single crystals uniaxially and synchronously over the wide area of the substrate, with small size polydispersity. The crystal edge was active even after consumption of the molecules and resumed stereoselective growth with successive feeding. This research may open the way for a new line of experiments in which chemical processes can be contained within these microscopic vessels. …read more. TECHNICAL ARTICLE