Biomimetic synthesis of shaped and chiral silica entities templated by organic objective materials.

Organic molecules with accompanying self-organization have been a great subject in chemistry, material science and nanotechnology in the past two decades. One of the most important roles of organized organic molecules is the capability of templating complexly structured inorganic materials. The focus of this Minireview is on nanostructured silica with divergent morphologies and/or integrated chirality directed by organic templates of self-assembled polyamine/polypeptides/block copolymers, chiral organogels, self-organized chiral amphiphiles and chiral crystalline complexes, etc., by biomimetic silicification and conventional sol-gel reaction. Among them, biosilica (diatoms and sponges)-inspired biomimetic silicifications are particularly highlighted.