The control of the growth morphologies of ice crystals is a critical issue in fields as diverse as biomineralization, medicine, biology, civil or food engineering. Such control can be achieved through the ice-shaping properties of specific compounds. The development of synthetic ice-shaping compounds is inspired by the natural occurrence of such properties exhibited by antifreeze proteins. We reveal how a particular zirconium acetate complex is exhibiting ice-shaping properties very similar to that of antifreeze proteins, albeit being a radically different compound. We use these properties as a bioinspired approach to template unique faceted pores in cellular materials. These results suggest that ice-structuring properties are not exclusive to long organic molecules and should broaden the field of investigations and applications of such substances. © 2011 Deville et al.
CITATION STYLE
Deville, S., Viazzi, C., Leloup, J., Lasalle, A., Guizard, C., Maire, E., … Gremillard, L. (2011). Ice shaping properties, similar to that of antifreeze proteins, of a zirconium acetate complex. PLoS ONE, 6(10). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0026474
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