TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The nanoparticles have cross-section of 0.5-250 nm, 1-20 nm or 4 nm with a size distribution of a mean value of +/-200% or +/-50%. The percentage of surface coverage on at least one crystal surface comprises 1-100%, 20-80% or 40-60%. The nanoparticles form a coating on the crystal in the form of a close-packed assembly of nanoparticles, open-structures such as in the form of a patterned array, or 2-dimensional or 3-dimensional structures.The nanoparticles are in the form of a dispersion or solution and comprise metals, metal alloys, semi-metals, semiconductors, carbon allotropes (e.g. fullerenes, C60 or carbon nanotubes) and/or insulators. The nanoparticle comprises gold, silver, platinum, palladium, cobalt, rubidium and/or their alloys.The crystals comprise water-soluble ionic materials such as an inorganic salt of potassium chloride or potassium sulfate, organic solvent soluble ionic salts such as lithium perchlorate (LiClO4), highly polar or ionic compounds such as zwitterions of amino acids, organic salts such as sodium glutamate, sugars such as lactose or other high melting point molecules such as pharmaceutical agents such as drugs, heterocycles and H-bonding molecules. The crystals have nanometer-micrometer dimension of 5 nm-100 mum or 25 nm-10 mum.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The nanoparticles and crystal forming material are coprecipitated in a non-solvent comprising from polar solvents (e.g. ethanol, propanol, acetone, acetonitrile, dimethylformamide), intermediate solvents (e.g. ethyl acetate and tetrahydrofuran) and/or non-polar solvents (e.g. toluene and hexane), near-critical and super-critical fluids (e.g. carbon dioxide) and/or acids and basis such as aqueous acids (e.g. aqueous hydrochloric acid), organic bases (e.g. sodium hydroxide), organic acids (e.g. acetic acid) and organic bases (e.g. pyridine). EXAMPLE - 0.155 g of tetrachloroauric acid (HAuCl4) was dissolved in 8.8 ml of 6:1 methanol/acetic acid. 0.19 of N-(2-mercapto-propionyl)glycine (i.e. tiopronin) was dissolved separately in another 8.8 ml of 6:1 methanol/acetic acid. The tiopronic crystal-forming solution was added to the HAuCl4 solution with stirring. The solution was mixed for 20-25 seconds. Then, a preprepared solution of KBH4 (0.432 g in 7.5 ml pure water) non-solvent was added with stirring. The suspension was cooled, transferred into centrifuge tubes and repeatedly washed with and spun-down in methanol to remove organic soluble impurities. The resulting nanoparticle powder was removed from the flask and dried in a vacuum desiccator. UV spectra of an aqueous solution showed a maximum at 520 nm which is an indicative of nanoparticles with an average core diameter of 4+/-2 nm.    A saturated aqueous solution of DL-Valine was prepared at room temperature and passed through a 20 mum filter to remove any undissolved material. A weighed sample of the gold nanoparticles was dissolved in the valine solution to give a concentration of AuNP of 1 mg/100 mul. 360 mul of this aqueous valine-AuNP mixture was introduced dropwise and with rapid stirring to 15 ml of dry tetrahydrofuran. Immediately upon addition, a grey precipitate of AuNP-valine microcrystals was formed. Scanning electron microscope images of the precipitate showed the formation of regular plate-like valine microcrystals with largest dimensions of less than 10 mum.