Nature has evolved efficient strategies to synthesize complex mineralized structures that exhibit exceptional damage tolerance. One such example is found in the hypermineralized hammer-like dactyl clubs of the stomatopods, a group of highly aggressive marine crustaceans. The dactyl clubs from one species, Odontodactylus scyllarus, exhibit an impressive set of characteristics adapted for surviving high-velocity impacts on the heavily mineralized prey on which they feed. Consisting of a multiphase composite of oriented crystalline hydroxyapatite and amorphous calcium phosphate and carbonate, in conjunction with a highly expanded helicoidal organization of the fibrillar chitinous organic matrix, these structures display several effective lines of defense against catastrophic failure during repetitive high-energy loading events.

Hierarchically ordered macro-mesoporous titania films have been produced through a confinement self-assembly method within the regular voids of a colloidal crystal with three-dimensional periodicity. Furthermore, graphene as an excellent electron-accepting and electron-transporting material has been incorporated into the hierarchically ordered macro-mesoporous titania frameworks by in situ reduction of graphene oxide added in the self-assembly system. Incorporation of interconnected macropores in mesoporous films improves the mass transport through the film, reduces the length of the mesopore channel, and increases the accessible surface area of the thin film, whereas the introduction of graphene effectively suppresses the charge recombination. Therefore, the significant enhancement of photocatalytic activity for degrading the methyl blue has been achieved. The apparent rate constants for macro-mesoporous titania films without and with graphene are up to 0.045 and 0.071 min(-1), respectively, almost 11 and 17 times higher than that for pure mesoporous titania films (0.0041 min(-1)).

More than just an empty shell: Multishelled Co3O4 microspheres were synthesized as anode materials for lithium‐ion batteries in high yield and purity. As their porous hollow multishell structure guarantees a shorter Li+ diffusion length and sufficient void space to buffer the volume expansion, their rate capacity, cycling performance, and specific capacity were excellent (1615.8 mA h g−1 in the 30th cycle for triple‐shelled Co3O4; see graph).

Silicatein, an enzymatic biocatalyst purified from the glassy skeletal elements of a marine sponge, and previously shown capable of catalyzing and structurally directing the hydrolysis and polycondensation of silicon alkoxides to yield silica and silsesquioxanes at low temperature and pressure and neutral pH, is shown to be capable of catalyzing and templating the hydrolysis and subsequent polycondensation of a water-stable alkoxide-like conjugate of titanium to form titanium dioxide. The structure and behavior of the TiO 2 formed through this biocatalytic route, including thermally induced crystal grain growth and phase transformation from anatase to rutile, differ from those of TiO 2 formed from the same precursor via alkali catalysis or thermal pyrolysis. This enzymatic route affords a path to templated synthesis that avoids the high temperatures and extremes of pH typically required for synthesis of metallo-oxanes from the corresponding alkoxide-like precursors, and thus provides access to a new and potentially useful parameter space of structures and properties. The proteins may also be nanoscopically structure-directing, as evidenced by the formation of nanocrystallites of anatase, a polymorph usually formed at much higher temperatures. The summation of weak interactions between the protein and mineral may induce this stabilization and thus may afford a new level of nanostructural control, with associated enhancement of selected performance properties.