Micro/nanoengineering of the self-organized three-dimensional fibrous structure of functional materials

A crystallographic mismatch branching mechanism, rather than molecular self-assembly, controls the architecture of the crystalline structure. Self-organized functional materials with a 3D fibrous network structure (see scanning electron micrographs; right) have been constructed from needlelike crystals of lanosterol:dihydrolanosterol and diisooctylphthalate (left) by using an ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymer as a branching creator.