Abstract
Biopolymers and biopolymer colloids can act as controlling agents and templates not only in many processes in nature, but also in a wide range of synthetic approaches. Inorganic materials can be either synthesized ex situ and later incorporated into a biopolymer structuring matrix or grown in situ in the presence of biopolymers. In this review, we focus mainly on the latter case and distinguish between the following possibilities: (i) biopolymers as controlling agents of nucleation and growth of inorganic materials; (ii) biopolymers as supports, either as molecular supports or as carrier particles acting as cores of core–shell structures; and (iii) so-called “soft templates”, which include on one hand stabilized droplets, micelles, and vesicles, and on the other hand continuous scaffolds generated by gelling biopolymers.
Highlights
During the natural synthesis of inorganic matter in living organisms, referred to as biomineralization, biogenic macromolecules are present in the crystallization medium, but play a crucial role in the mineral formation
Biopolymers and biopolymer colloids can act as controlling agents and templates in many processes in nature, and in a wide range of synthetic approaches
We focus mainly on the latter case and distinguish between the following possibilities: (i) biopolymers as controlling agents of nucleation and growth of inorganic materials; (ii) biopolymers as supports, either as molecular supports or as carrier particles acting as cores of core–shell structures; and (iii) so-called “soft templates”, which include on one hand stabilized droplets, micelles, and vesicles, and on the other hand continuous scaffolds generated by gelling biopolymers
Summary
During the natural synthesis of inorganic matter in living organisms, referred to as biomineralization, biogenic macromolecules are present in the crystallization medium, but play a crucial role in the mineral formation. Hydrogels, such as those based on the polyaminosaccharide chitosan, are probably the most commonly used scaffolds for the preparation of bipolymer/inorganic composites, very especially for biomedical applications. From the previous case, here the precipitation/crystallization of the inorganic materials does not take place merely on the surface, but within the supramolecular structure formed by the biopolymer (polymer matrix). Synthetic polymer colloidal particles functionalized with different groups were shown to have an effect on the growth and on the final properties of inorganic materials such as zinc oxide [40,41], calcium oxalate [38], or calcium carbonate [42,43]. Krattiger et al [44] reported the morphogenesis of CaCO3 and DL-alanine crystals in the presence of polystyrene beads functionalized with synthetic peptides with different amino acids and oligopeptides
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