Fig. 3: Anisotropic crystal structures and growth induced by directional intermolecular interactions.

a, b Schematic illustration of isotropic inorganic lattices (a) and anisotropic inorganic lattices (b) and their correlation with the absence and presence of directional intermolecular interactions, respectively. c Schematic illustration of the needle-like crystal, showing the growth direction aligned with the directional intermolecular interactions.