In this talk, I will discuss our ongoing work based on combined experimental-theoretical-modeling investigations to understand the formation mechanisms of some natural and synthetic structures with periodic lattice-like morphologies. For the synthetic model system, I will demonstrate the critical role of the mechanical stress for crystallographically preferred growth in the evaporation-induced colloidal crystals. In this system, a tensile stress field along the meniscus direction during the drying process leads to the formation of geometrically necessary dislocations, which further results in the gradual rotation of crystal orientation in the self-assembled colloidal crystal. For the natural model system, I will discuss some insights in understanding the formation mechanisms of the recently-discovered dual-scale, single-crystalline microlattice found in the skeletal system of the knobby starfish <i>Protoreaster nodosus</i>. The calcitic skeleton of the starfish is composed of mm-sized skeletal units, known as ossicles. Each ossicle is characterized by a highly periodic microlattice, which is a diamond-triply periodic minimal surface structure with a lattice constant of ~30 micrometers. On the atomic scale, each ossicle is a single crystal calcite. In addition, the three-fold symmetry between the diamond lattice and the underlying calcite is perfectly registered, resulting an unusual dual-scale, single-crystalline microlattice.

On the formation mechanisms of textured lattice structures from some natural and synthetic systems

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