Multi‐Functionalization of Single crystals Mediated by Gel‐Incorporation: A Bioinspired Strategy

Abstract

AbstractBiominerals are inherently organic‐inorganic crystal composites. Drawing inspiration from this biomineral structure, functionalized single crystals can be synthesized using the gel‐grown method, resulting in the incorporation of gel‐networks into the host crystals. By incorporating gel‐networks, diverse guest materials, such as nanoparticles and dye molecules, can be uniformly and isotropically distributed within the crystals, thereby imparting non‐intrinsic optical or magnetic properties to the host crystals. Additionally, gel‐incorporation enhances the toughness and stability of the crystals as the incorporated gel‐fibers and accompanying guest materials act as bridges to prevent crack propagation. Furthermore, gel‐incorporation enables protein crystals to exhibit self‐healing properties, which can be attributed to the dynamic bonding interaction between gel‐networks and crystals. Notably, recent research has demonstrated that the incorporation of zwitterionic gel‐networks enhances the charge effects on crystal morphology evolution as the charged groups become bound to the developing crystal surfaces, and their detachment is impeded by the interconnected gel‐networks. Therefore, preparing single crystals with gel‐incorporation is a remarkable strategy for synthesizing functionalized crystal materials.