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A research group headed by Dr. Takayoshi Sasaki (MANA Principal Investigator), Dr. Renzhi Ma (MANA Scientist), and Dr. Fengxia Geng (Postdoctoral Researcher) of the International Center for Materials Nanoarchitectonics (MANA), National Institute for Materials Science, discovered an intriguing phenomenon in which an inorganic layered crystal expanded and contracted by 100 times its original size in a few seconds when immersed in an aqueous solution, displaying a behavior similar to a living cell. |
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It is known that inorganic layered crystals intercalate various types of ions and molecules between their layers to show swelling when immersed in aqueous solutions, but the degree of swelling is normally on the order of several 10%. In some limited examples, swelling of several times has been achieved when a large volume of water was absorbed, as water is a solvent. However, in such cases, the force that acts between the layers is weakened, and the crystals will split into thin fragments under even a weak external force, such as shaking of the solution. For this reason, it has been virtually impossible to maintain a stable swelling exceeding 10 times the original size, and scientific understanding in connection with the swelling reaction of lamellar crystals had been limited. |
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