Biomimetic morphological design for manganese oxide and cobalt hydroxide nanoflakes with a mosaic interior

We synthesized manganese oxide and cobalt hydroxide nanoflakes with mosaic interiors in aqueous solutions containing poly(acrylic acid) and poly(ethyleneimine), respectively. Nanocrystals 2-3 nm in size made up the mosaic interiors and oriented architectures in the flakes less than 100 nm in width and 10 nm in thickness. The organic polymers coordinated to the metal ionic species and interacted with the growing crystals. These two interaction styles of the polymers led to morphological evolution at a nanoscopic scale. The results indicate that tailoring an interaction between organic and inorganic molecules realizes a practical application of a biomimetic approach to the design and integration of functional nanomaterials.