title: Mesocrystals: syntheses in metals and applications.
abstract: Self-assembly of nanoparticles has emerged as a powerful technique to integrate nanoparticles into well-defined ensembles with collective properties that are different from those of individual nanoparticles and bulk materials with the same chemical composition. Compared with the classical ion/molecule-mediated crystal growth, particle-mediated crystallographically ordered self-assembly is considered as "non-classical crystallization" and the resultant product is termed a "mesocrystal". In this tutorial review, we begin by summarizing the progresses of this field during last decade. Secondly, we outline developments in related fields such as grain rotation and oriented attachment as well as mesocrystals. Thridly, the recent progress in the syntheses of mesocrystals particularly in metals, and the related properties are introduced. Finally, some of the current open questions are discussed.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory for Mechanical Behavior of Materials, School of Science, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Shaan Xi, 710049, People's Republic of China. jxfang@mail.xjtu.edu.cn
authors.forename: Jixiang
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.forename: Bingjun
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Ding
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gleiter