Mesostructured crystals: Growth processes and features

Sophisticated architectures consisting of oriented small crystalline blocks are widely observed in biological and biomimetic minerals. Here, mesostructured crystals are categorized in a new family of crystalline states as intermediate between faceted single crystals and polycrystals that are random arrangements of small grains. A variety of hierarchical architectures, such as mesocrystals consisting of isolated nanoblocks, granular textures of biominerals, and helical crystals, are included in the mesostructured crystals. The formation routes of the mesostructured crystals are described on the basis of the specific interaction of crystals and organic molecules or matrices. Moreover, specific features of the particular crystalline states are shown with their unique functions originating from the hierarchical architectures.