Recent advances in oriented attachment growth and synthesis of functional materials: concept, evidence, mechanism, and future

The latest advances in oriented attachment controlled morphosynthesis and crystal growth of various technically important inorganic materials have been reviewed with the focus on how to generate inorganic micro-/nanostructured materials based on the so-called oriented attachment mechanism. The overview about the basic crystallization principles nowadays falls into two types, i.e., one is the classical crystal growth mode, which is via atom-by-atom additions to an existing nucleus or dissolution of unstable phases and reprecipitation of more stable phases, and the other occurs through particle based aggregation modes involving the process of mesoscopic transformation. The systematic analysis of the particle…