Liquid-Crystalline Biomacromolecular Templates for the Formation of Oriented Thin-Film Hybrids Composed of Ordered Chitin and Alkaline-Earth Carbonate.

Macroscopically ordered inorganic thin films have been formed on unidirectionally oriented, liquid-crystalline chitin matrices. In the presence of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), unidirectionally oriented chitin films act as templates for the formation of oriented thin-film crystals of alkaline-earth carbonates such as SrCO3 and BaCO3. The morphology and orientation of crystals are dependent on the metal ion concentration. For SrCO3 crystallization, unidirectional thin films and hexagonal-shaped thin films have been deposited from 200 and 25 mm concentration strontium solutions, respectively.