Taking a page from nature to build better nanomaterials
(PhysOrg.com) -- Sometimes nature cannot be improved upon. One example is in the synthesis of nanomaterials, which in the laboratory or factory generally requires toxic chemicals and extreme conditions of temperature and pressure. But over millions of years, nature has developed ways of putting together inorganic nanocrystals at mild temperatures and pressures. Usually this process, known as biomineralization, involves calcium carbonate or phosphate for purposes such as building bone or shells, but another interesting variation is seen in the crystallization of gold from solution by certain types of bacteria. A group of researchers has devised a unique experiment to mimic this natural process of biomineralization in order to create oriented gold nanocrystals and examine their formation at the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Sciences Advanced Photon Source (APS) at Argonne National Laboratory.