A. Berman et al., TOTAL ALIGNMENT OF CALCITE AT ACIDIC POLYDIACETYLENE FILMS - COOPERATIVITY AT THE ORGANIC-INORGANIC INTERFACE, Science, 269(5223), 1995, pp. 515-518
Biological matrices can direct the absolute alignment of inorganic cry
stals such as calcite. Cooperative effects at an organic-inorganic int
erface resulted in similar co-alignment of calcite at polymeric Langmu
ir-Schaefer films of 10,12-pentacosadiynoic acid (p-PDA). The films nu
cleated calcite at the (012) face, and the crystals were co-aligned wi
th respect to the polymer's conjugated backbone. At the same time, the
p-PDA alkyl side chains reorganized to optimize the stereochemical fi
t to the calcite structure, as visualized by changes in the optical sp
ectrum of the polymer. These results indicate the kinds of interaction
s that may occur in biological systems where large arrays of crystals
are co-aligned.