Minerals as Advanced Materials II

This book is a collection of papers that are devoted to various aspects of interactions between mineralogy and material sciences. It will include reviews, perspective papers and original research papers on mineral nanostructures, biomineralization, micro- and nanoporous mineral phases as functional materials, physical and optical properties of minerals, etc. Many important materials that dominate modern technological development were known to mineralogists for hundreds of years, though their properties were not fully recognized. Mineralogy, on the other hand, needs new impacts for the further development in the line of modern scientific achievements such as bio- and nanotechnologies as well as by the understanding of a deep role that information plays in the formation of natural structures and definition of natural processes. It is the idea of this series of books to provide an arena for interdisciplinary discussion on minerals as advanced materials.