Anions‐Mediated Morphological Control of Nano‐ /Microscaled Materials: A Case Study of Protonated Melamine‐Based Self‐Assemblies.

Abstract: Fabricating of melamine (MM)‐based multi‐component functional self‐assemblies have been investigated intensively. However, studies on protonated MM still in its infancy. Hence in this work, we studied the self‐assembly of protonated MM in different forms (1⋅ClO4− [MMH+⋅ClO4−⋅H2O], 2⋅Br− [MMH2+⋅2Br−⋅H2O], and 3⋅Cl− [MMH2+⋅2Cl−⋅H2O]) with various oxoanions (SO42−, NO3− and PO43−). Results revealed that the original anions ClO4‐, Br‐, and Cl‐, though not included in these self‐assemblies, are mainly responsible for the spectacular morphologies, from cuboids (1.SO42−) to prismoids (2.SO42−), sheets (3.SO42−), fibers (1.NO3−), rods (2.NO3−, 3.NO3−) and ribbons (1.PO43−, 2.PO43−, 3.PO43−). The crystalline phase and compositions of these self‐assemblies were found to be independent from the original protonated MM and the degree of protonation, while depend on the specific oxoanions. Therefore, the self‐assembly mechanism can be proposed. These results may provide an effective strategy for morphological control, especially for further development in protonated MM‐based functional materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]