Biomimetic synthesis of single-crystalline anhydrous xanthine nanoplates in an aqueous solution with high reflectivity

A synthesis route for bio-inspired rhomboidal xanthine nanoplates similar to biogenic xanthine crystals that exhibit excellent optical properties was reported. The nanoplate crystals are proposed to be anhydrous xanthine with monoclinic symmetry, and the nanoplates mainly expose the (100) plane.