Diatom Frustules: Physical, Optical, and Biotechnological Applications

Abstract

AbstractDiatoms are unicellular photosynthetic eurkaryotes within the class Bacillariophyceae whose peculiarity amongst other microalgae is a siliceous cell wall (Round et al., 1990). Traditionally, diatoms have been subdivided into two major groups based upon their symmetry: the centrales have radial symmetry, whilst the pennales have bilateral symmetry. Diatoms are found in both freshwater and marine environments, as well as in soil, and on moist surfaces. Individual diatoms vary in size from 2 nm up to several mm in size, although only a few species are larger than 200 mm.KeywordsNanotechnologySilicaMechanical propertiesOptical propertiesFunctionalizationMorphologyPhotoluminescencePhotonicNanocomposites