Fabrication of SiO2 Materials used in Diatom Culture

Abstract

Diatoms are one of the microalgae species commonly used as food for many aquatic organisms during the hatchery stage. The culture of diatoms usually uses silicon from Na2SiO3, but this salt compound easily causes the precipitation of trace ions in the culture medium. This study is to fabricate SiO2 material particles used to replace Na2SiO3 in the period of diatom proliferation and application in aquiculture. The material particles were synthesized based on the Stober method using the surfactant compound CTAB with a spherical particle structure with the particle size of about 700 nm. Testing using SiO2 material particles showed faster growth of diatoms compared with conventional culture media using Na2SiO3.