Morphology design of crystalline and polymer materials from nanoscopic to macroscopic scales

Morphology of molecules and materials has significant impact on properties and functions. At molecular and nanometer scales, morphologies of molecules and their organized state are controlled by molecular design and synthesis. This account focuses on morphologies of crystalline and polymer materials from nanometer to macroscopic scales. A good model for morphology control is found in nature. Biominerals form inorganicorganic composites with hierarchically organized morphologies under mild conditions. We found the overlooked biological strategy for the morphogenesis from the nanocrystals and the macromolecules. Inspired by biological approaches, hierarchically organized morphologies of crystals were prepared through controlled growth in the presence of organic polymers. The bioinspired approaches are regarded as polymercontrolled crystallization. Recently, we developed the reverse approach, namely crystal-controlled polymerization. The hierarchical morphology control of organic and inorganic polymer materials was achieved by using crystals. Morphology design and control of materials have potential for improvement of performance and emergence of unprecedented properties. The present account summarizes basic findings of the overlooked biological strategy, polymer-mediated crystallization, and crystal-mediated polymerization.