Chemical organization in reaction-diffusion systems
offer a strategy to generate materials with ordered morphologies
and architecture. Periodic structures can be formed using molecules
or nanoparticles. An emerging frontier in materials science aims to
combine nanoparticles and molecules. In a new report on Science
Advances, Amanda J. Ackroyd and a team of scientists in chemistry,
physics and nanomaterials in Canada, Hungary and the U.S. noted how
solvent evaporation from a suspension of cellulose nanocrystals
(CNCs) and L-(+)-tartaric acid [abbreviated L-(+)-TA] caused the
phase separation of precipitation to result in the rhythmic
alteration of CNC-rich, L-(+)-TA rings. The CNC-rich regions
maintained a cholesteric structure, while the L-(+)-TA-rich bands
formed via radially elongated bundles to expand the knowledge of
self-organizing reaction-diffusion systems and offer a strategy to
design self-organizing materials.
Self-organization of nanoparticles and molecules in periodic
Liesegang-type structures
