Biomineralization and Biomimetic Inorganic Crystal Engineering
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Date: 02-15-2006
Start Time:
4:00pm
End Time: 5:00pm
Speaker: Joanna Aizenberg
From:
Lucent Technologies
Location: Interschool Lab, 7th floor, Schapiro/CEPSR
Hosted by:
Center for Integrated Science
Abstract:
Nature produces a wide variety of exquisite mineralized tissues
fulfilling diverse functions, and often from simple inorganic salts.
Organisms exercise a level of molecular control over the
physico-chemical properties of inorganic crystals that is unparalleled
in today's technology. This reflects directly or indirectly the
controlling activity of biological organic surfaces that are involved
in the formation of these materials. In our bio-inspired approach to
the synthesis of inorganic crystals, we design nano/micropatterned
organic surfaces to orchestrate inorganic crystallization. This
approach made it possible to achieve a remarkable level of control over
various aspects of the crystal nucleation and growth, including the
precise localization of particles, nucleation density, crystal sizes,
morphology, crystallographic orientation, arbitrary shapes,
microstructure, stability and architecture. The mechanisms of molecular
recognition at the organic/inorganic interface will be discussed.