Silica Morphologies Research Articles

Comparative Assessment of Cellular Responses to Microscale Silica Morphologies in Human Gastrointestinal Cells: Insights for Occupational Health

Silicon dioxide (SiO2), commonly known as silica, is a naturally occurring mineral extracted from the Earth’s crust. It is widely used in commercial products such as food, medicine, and dental ceramics. There are few studies on the health effects of pyrogenic and colloidal silica after ingestion. No research has compared the impact of microscale morphologies on mitochondrial activity in colon cells after acute exposure. The results show that crystalline and amorphous silica had a concentration-independent effect on cells, with an initial increase in mitochondrial activity followed by a decrease. Vitreous silica did not affect cells. Diatomaceous earth and pyrogenic silica had a concentration-dependent response, causing a reduction in mitochondrial activity as concentration increased. Diatomaceous earth triggered the highest cellular response, with mitochondrial activity ranging from 78.84% ± 12.34 at the highest concentration (1000 ppm) to 62.54% ± 17.43 at the lowest concentration (0.01 ppm) and an average H2O2 concentration of 1.48 ± 0.15 RLUs. This research advances our understanding of silica’s impact on human gastrointestinal cells, highlighting the need for ongoing exploration. These findings can improve risk mitigation strategies in silica-exposed environments.

Direct air CO2 capture using coal fly ash derived SBA-15 supported polyethylenimine

Designing an amine modified silica derived from coal fly ash (CFA) towards direct air CO2 capture (DAC) provides an economic way to manage increasing atmospheric CO2 concentration utilizing solid wastes. In this work, rod-like SBA-15 (SBA-15-R) and wheat-like SBA-15 (SBA-15-W) with distinct pore lengths are synthesized from CFA by controlling the synthesis conditions and then modified by PEI via the wet impregnation method. Their CO2 adsorption behaviors under sub-ambient conditions are investigated to explore their feasibility under aggressive conditions. The adsorbents with various silica morphologies exhibit distinctive CO2 adsorption performance under ambient and sub-ambient conditions. At 35°C under dry conditions, the CO2 adsorption capacity increases with amine loading. The CO2 adsorption capacity (qe) of SBA-15-W-PEI with long channels reaches the highest qe of 1.92 mmol/g with 70 wt.% PEI loading due to a large amount of strong chemisorption sites. Under the sub-ambient conditions (-20°C, 400 ppm), SBA-15-R-PEI30 with short channels having weaker CO2 diffusion resistance exhibits promising CO2 uptake of 0.83 mmol/g. These findings indicate that the ultra-dilute CO2 adsorption at ambient temperature requires an adsorbent with large amounts of adsorption sites, whereas the adsorbents for cold temperature application should reconcile amine loading with CO2 diffusion resistance inside pores. The co-adsorption of H2O and CO2 significantly improves CO2 capacity from 0.83 mmol/g and 1.92 mmol/g to 1.81 mmol/g and 3.48 mmol/g for SBA-15-R-PEI30 (-20°C, 400 ppm) and SBA-15-W-PEI70 (35°C, 400 ppm), respectively. Furthermore, the CFA derived SBA-15-PEI shows good cyclic stability during five consecutive TSA cycles. Preparing the amine silica adsorbents from coal fly ash potentially reduces the adsorbent cost of DAC devices. Moreover, the systematic exploration of amine silica adsorbents at a wide range of temperatures guides the design of high-performance CO2 adsorbents employed under various climatic conditions.

Probing Leucine Side Chain Dynamics in an Amphiphilic Peptide Coprecipitated with Silica using 2H Solid-State NMR

There are a number of peptides implicated in the templating of silica morphologies in biological organisms. Biomimetic precipitation studies, aimed at performing the same types of controlled silica precipitation under ambient conditions, have shown that short amphiphilic repeats of leucine and lysine are able to precipitate a variety of interesting nanostructures of silica. Specifically of interest here is LKα14: Ac-LKKLLKLLKKLLKL-C, a synthetic alpha-helical peptide, which has been shown to form a nanospherical coprecipitate with silica. Furthermore, this peptide is known to preaggregate into a tetrameric bundle in solution, with the leucine residues facing inwards to form a hydrophobic core. If this structure persists in silica, the observed morphology could be governed by interactions between the silica and hydrophilic lysine residues. Previous NMR-based structural studies, confirm that the peptide maintains the alpha helical secondary structure in silica, and suggests that the aggregation is maintained. Our goal is to use deuterium solid state nuclear magnetic resonance (2H ssNMR) to establish how the changes in this local environment alter the leucine side chain dynamics of selectively deuterium labeled LKα14. Specifically, we hope to determine if the tetrameric bundle persists, by tracking how the dynamics change going from the neat state, to buffered state, and, finally, to the silica precipitated form. Fitting dynamic models of rotameric and librational motion to the deuterium solid state NMR lineshapes allows us to probe possible mechanisms of peptide pre-aggregation and subsequent silica precipitation.

Diatom mimics: directing the formation of biosilica nanoparticles by controlled folding of lysine-leucine peptides.

Silaffins, long chain polyamines, and other biomolecules found in diatoms are involved in the assembly of a large number of silica nanostructures under mild, ambient conditions. Nanofabrication researchers have sought to mimic the diatom's biosilica production capabilities by engineering proteins to resemble aspects of naturally occurring biomolecules. Such mimics can produce monodisperse biosilica nanospheres, but in vitro production of the variety of intricate biosilica nanostructures that compose the diatom frustule is not yet possible. In this study we demonstrate how LK peptides, composed solely of lysine (K) and leucine (L) amino acids arranged with varying hydrophobic periodicities, initiate the formation of different biosilica nanostructures in vitro. When L and K residues are arranged with a periodicity of 3.5 the α-helical form of the LK peptide produces monodisperse biosilica nanospheres. However, when the LK periodicity is changed to 3.0, corresponding to a 310 helix, the morphology of the nanoparticles changes to elongated rod-like structures. β-strand LK peptides with a periodicity of 2.0 induce wire-like silica morphologies. This study illustrates how the morphology of biosilica can be changed simply by varying the periodicity of polar and nonpolar amino acids.

Effects of external force fields on peptide self-assembly and biomimetic silica synthesis

Abstract This study investigated the influence of physical parameters on the dynamic self-assembly of short peptide amphiphiles (A 6 K and V 6 K) and the peptide-mediated silica morphologies by applying external force fields (electric and flow fields). Diverse self-assembled structures (nanofibers, nanorods, or lamellar stacks) can be obtained depending on field intensities and molecular architectures. Although the trend in the structural transitions observed from the electrostatic stimulation differed from that obtained in flow field, the common features indicate that the formed structures exhibit a higher extent of end-to-end merging or lateral association. These self-assembled peptide-based nanostructures then were used as organic templates to tailor silica deposition. It was found that the application of flow fields can stably produce fibril morphology. However, in the case of electric fields, different silica structures were obtained by using different systems. The silica morphologies directed by V 6 K peptide were transformed from fibrils to plate-like structures, and A 6 K peptide produced fibril silica materials. The difference may be attributed to different biomimetic conditions, including external forces, solubility of hydrophobic blocks, and intensity of peptide–silicate interactions. This understanding of the mechanism by which external fields affect the self-assembled amphiphilic peptide nanostructures and the silicification process allows us to manipulate the role of short amphiphilic peptides in silica formation in vitro .

Ordered mesoporous silica prepared by quiescent interfacial growth method - effects of reaction chemistry.

Acidic interfacial growth can provide a number of industrially important mesoporous silica morphologies including fibers, spheres, and other rich shapes. Studying the reaction chemistry under quiescent (no mixing) conditions is important for understanding and for the production of the desired shapes. The focus of this work is to understand the effect of a number of previously untested conditions: acid type (HCl, HNO3, and H2SO4), acid content, silica precursor type (TBOS and TEOS), and surfactant type (CTAB, Tween 20, and Tween 80) on the shape and structure of products formed under quiescent two-phase interfacial configuration. Results show that the quiescent growth is typically slow due to the absence of mixing. The whole process of product formation and pore structuring becomes limited by the slow interfacial diffusion of silica source. TBOS-CTAB-HCl was the typical combination to produce fibers with high order in the interfacial region. The use of other acids (HNO3 and H2SO4), a less hydrophobic silica source (TEOS), and/or a neutral surfactant (Tweens) facilitate diffusion and homogenous supply of silica source into the bulk phase and give spheres and gyroids with low mesoporous order. The results suggest two distinct regions for silica growth (interfacial region and bulk region) in which the rate of solvent evaporation and local concentration affect the speed and dimension of growth. A combined mechanism for the interfacial bulk growth of mesoporous silica under quiescent conditions is proposed.

Synthesis of the Mesoporous Silica with Different Morphological Structure by Modifying the Solution Conditions

Mesoporous silica with different morphological structure had been prepared using cationic surfactant cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as co-surfactant templates and tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as silica source. Variation on the morphological structure can be achieved by adjusting the solution conditions. The mesoporous silica with varied morphologies and pore structures were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), small-angle X-ray diffraction (SAXRD) and N2 adsorption-desorption isotherms. Based on experimental results, the mesoporous silica morphologies including vesicle-like and hollow nanospheres with mesoporous shell has been proposed. It was also observed a transformation from vesicle-like silica to hollow nanospheres with mesoporous shell by regulating the solution conditions.

Controlled biosilification using self-assembled short peptides A6K and V6K

We report the molecular self-assembly of two amphiphilic peptides (A6K and V6K) and the application of their self-assemblies as organic templates to direct biosilica formation. Under ambient conditions, A6K self-assembled into nanotubes 2.7 nm tall and approximately 1 μm to 2 μm long. In contrast, V6K self-assembled into lamellar-stack nanostructures approximately 4 nm tall and under 100 nm long. The self-assembled peptide nanostructures were used as organic templates to direct biosilica formation. Comparing with the self-assembled structures formed by the peptide/anions system, novel silica morphologies can be obtained by changing the peptide composition, using different anions, and applying electrostatic/flow fields. We observed that the presence of anions is important but not enough to produce ordered silica structures with novel morphologies. This study provides further understanding of silica biomineralization tailored by assembled peptides, which offers a simple but efficient method to control the formation of inorganic material.

Self‐Templating Amphiphilic Polymer Precursors for Fabricating Mesostructured Silica Particles: A Water‐Based Facile and Universal Method

A facile and universal approach is reported for the preparation of silica particles of various mesostructures based on the self-assembly of amphiphilic precursor polymers in water and subsequent condensation. Depending on the hydrophilization degree of hyperbranched polyethoxysiloxane, various silica morphologies including mesoporous particles, hollow nanospheres and ultrasmall particles with high application potential are fabricated.

Controlled biomimetic silica formation using star-shaped poly(l-lysine)

A novel star-shaped copolymer PEI10 000-g-PLL20, with a hyperbranched polyethylenimine (PEI) core and multiple linear poly(L-lysine) (PLL) peripheral chains was designed and synthesized. The star-shaped peptide, along with multiple counterions, was used as an organic template to direct the biomimetic synthesis of silica under mild conditions. Various biosilica morphologies, such as spherical, clubbed, and hexagonal shapes, were transformed using a specific TEOS/lysine residue ratio (δ) in a peptide/phosphate/silicic acid system. Individual silica spheres were obtained when δ was smaller than 10, whereas clubbed (δ = 11) and hexagonal (δ = 18) particles formed when δ was larger than 10. However, only clubbed biosilica was obtained when the counterions were carbonates or sulfates. Transmission electron microscopy and circular dichroism spectroscopy results suggest that the presence of counterions was necessary but not sufficient to produce ordered silica morphologies. Thus, the nature of peptide/anion complex, TEOS/lysine residue ratio, and pH changes in the biomimetic system played important roles in determining the silica morphologies.

Enhancement of properties of polyimide/silica hybrid nanocomposites by benzimidazole formed hydrogen bond

Polyimide/silica hybrid nanocomposites were prepared by sol–gel method without coupling agent. A novel diamine with a benzimidazole group, 2‐(4‐aminophenyl)‐5‐aminobenzimidazole (PABZ), was introduced to copolymerize with 4,4'‐oxydianiline (ODA) and pyromellitic dianhydride (PMDA) to synthesize polyimide (PI) matrix. The compatibility between PI and silica was improved by hydrogen bonds formed between silica phase and the –NH– group on benzimidazole of the new diamine. Highly transparent hybrid films were obtained when silica content reached as high as 30 wt%. SEM results show that silica particles with sizes much smaller than that in PMDA‐ODA/silica system disperse homogeneously in the PI matrix. Differing from most hybrid systems without coupling agent, the tensile strength of PABZ system increases from 152 MPa to 165 MPa with silica content increasing from 0 to 20 wt%, while, it decreases linearly in PMDA‐ODA system. DMA analysis shows that the introduction of PABZ largely increases the glass transition temperature (Tg) for all silica contents, which is suggested to be due to the more rigid structures and stronger interaction between the two phases. Meanwhile, the decomposition temperature and char yields at 800 °C are both higher than that of pure PIs. The structures of the hybrid films were identified by FTIR spectra, which indicate that different silica morphologies are developed, resulted from the hydrogen bonds between benzimidazole and silica phase. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Cationic Amino Acids Specific Biomimetic Silicification in Ionic Liquid: A Quest to Understand the Formation of 3-D Structures in Diatoms

The intricate, hierarchical, highly reproducible, and exquisite biosilica structures formed by diatoms have generated great interest to understand biosilicification processes in nature. This curiosity is driven by the quest of researchers to understand nature's complexity, which might enable reproducing these elegant natural diatomaceous structures in our laboratories via biomimetics, which is currently beyond the capabilities of material scientists. To this end, significant understanding of the biomolecules involved in biosilicification has been gained, wherein cationic peptides and proteins are found to play a key role in the formation of these exquisite structures. Although biochemical factors responsible for silica formation in diatoms have been studied for decades, the challenge to mimic biosilica structures similar to those synthesized by diatoms in their natural habitats has not hitherto been successful. This has led to an increasingly interesting debate that physico-chemical environment surrounding diatoms might play an additional critical role towards the control of diatom morphologies. The current study demonstrates this proof of concept by using cationic amino acids as catalyst/template/scaffold towards attaining diatom-like silica morphologies under biomimetic conditions in ionic liquids.

Poly(l-lysine)-Mediated Biomimetic Silica Synthesis: Effects of Mixing Sequences and Counterion Concentrations

Two poly(L-lysine·HBr) (PLL) homopolypeptides along with phosphate buffer were used as organic templates to direct biomimetic silica synthesis under ambient conditions. We found that mixing sequence of reaction species played a key role in terms of controlling resulting silica morphologies. Premixing PLL solution with phosphate buffer followed with addition of silicic acid produced regular hexagonal silica plates, while premixing silicic acid with either PLL or phosphate solution prior to adding phosphate buffer or PLL solution only produced irregular silica nanoparticles. In addition, we found that the concentration of phosphate ions was also an important factor to control silica structures. When the ratio of phosphate/lysine residue (δ) was smaller than one, PLL only produced irregular silica particles. When δ was larger than 2.5, PLL produced regular silica plates. We performed CD measurements to track the conformation transition of PLL during biomineralization process and found that the resulting silica structures were closely related to the secondary structure of PLL regardless of experimental conditions. Only when PLL underwent an in situ coil-helix transition could ordered silica structures be produced.

Nanoscale Control of Silica Particle Formation via Silk−Silica Fusion Proteins for Bone Regeneration

The biomimetic design of silk/silica fusion proteins was carried out, combining the self assembling domains of spider dragline silk (Nephila clavipes) and silaffin derived R5 peptide of Cylindrotheca fusiformis that is responsible for silica mineralization. Genetic engineering was used to generate the protein-based biomaterials incorporating the physical properties of both components. With genetic control over the nanodomain sizes and chemistry, as well as modification of synthetic conditions for silica formation, controlled mineralized silk films with different silica morphologies and distributions were successfully generated; generating 3D porous networks, clustered silica nanoparticles (SNPs), or single SNPs. Silk serves as the organic scaffolding to control the material stability and multiprocessing makes silk/silica biomaterials suitable for different tissue regenerative applications. The influence of these new silk-silica composite systems on osteogenesis was evaluated with human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs) subjected to osteogenic differentiation. hMSCs adhered, proliferated, and differentiated towards osteogenic lineages on the silk/silica films. The presence of the silica in the silk films influenced osteogenic gene expression, with the upregulation of alkaline phosphatase (ALP), bone sialoprotein (BSP), and collagen type 1 (Col 1) markers. Evidence for early bone formation as calcium deposits was observed on silk films with silica. These results indicate the potential utility of these new silk/silica systems towards bone regeneration.

Transformation of silica fume into chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) nano-slurries for advanced semiconductor manufacturing

Silica nanoparticles have been synthesized from silica fume using alkali dissolution–precipitation process. The dissolution efficiency of 99% at a temperature of 80 °C and a time of 20 min was achieved. Sodium silicate solution was obtained by dissolving the fume with NaOH solution. Then, silica nanoparticles were precipitated using sulfuric acid. Silica nanoparticles (175 nm) were achieved using 12% sulfuric acid at pH 7 and 200 ppm sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS). The silica morphologies appeared as a spherical shape with narrow particle size distribution. The silica samples were used for the formulation and testing of chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) slurries. The morphology of the polished wafer surface and its roughness were examined by atomic force microscope (AFM).The results indicated that the surface roughness was greatly improved after application of CMP. It was found that the surface roughness of the polished wafer is 0.226 nm at an applied pressure of 7 psi. The removal rate was found to be 1200 Å. These values confirm the quality of polished wafers.

Development of early diagenetic silica and quartz morphologies — Examples from the Siri Canyon, Danish North Sea

The Siri Canyon has proved to be a perfect area for investigating various morphologies of diagenetic silica in sandstones. The development in silica morphologies can be observed from very shallow (∼ 1700 m) to increased burial depth (∼ 3000 m) and increased proximity to the Central Graben (distance from 0 to 65 km). Hydrocarbons and pore fluids, now found in the Siri Fairway, have (at least partly) originated from the Central Graben. The Siri Canyon is a submarine canyon system eroded into the uppermost chalk deposits and filled with Palaeogene hemipelagic and turbiditic marls and mudstones interbedded with sandstone units deposited from sandy mass-flows and sandy turbidites, which originated on the Stavanger Platform. Several hydrocarbon exploration and production wells have been drilled in the Siri Canyon, seven of which are included in this study (Nini-3, Nini-1, NA-2P, Sofie-1, Siri-4, Celilie-1A and Augusta-1). The reservoir sandstones in these wells all contain authigenic silica of various morphologies identified with a combination of traditional optical microscopy and scanning electron microscopy. The silica morphologies in some places are classic and well-documented in the literature, whereas others, at least to our knowledge, have never previously been described. Some of the silica morphologies presented here show gradual transition from one to another, and others are stand-alone forms without clear relationships to other forms. The silica morphologies can be expressed in the following way: 1. Opal rims; characteristic of the initial phase of the silica diagenesis in most sandstone units in the Siri Canyon. Thick opal rims characterise the sandstone parts adjacent to the mudstone units in the Stine segment of the Siri Field. 2. Microquartz (quartz crystals with a size of 1–5 µm); seen as coatings on the opal rims, both ordered and random. 3. Cavity overgrowth; found as quartz outgrowths in circular and angular cavities formed by dissolution of early authigenic phases. Angular cavities in the microquartz coatings origin from dissolution of clinoptilolite, possibly with a source in volcanic ash, whereas dissolution of lepispheres probably resulted in circular cavities. 4. Quartz ridges (syntaxial quartz overgrowths, a few micro millimetre in width, in parallel lines — defined in this paper). 5. Quartz mountains (syntaxial, irregular 5–10 µm large quartz crystals — defined in this paper); developed in the water-filled sandstone intervals where fluids from the Central Graben were introduced, possibly together with the hydrocarbon, and where the continued growth was not retarded by the presence of hydrocarbons in the pore fluids. 6. Macroquartz (syntaxial quartz overgrowths > 20 µm); seen as continued growths from quartz mountains. This takes place in the deeper reservoir sandstones, promoted by fluids originating from the Central Graben and increased burial depth. 7. Quartz with sutured grain contacts; occurring only in the deepest well (3000 m).

Au‐Induced Polyvinylpyrrolidone Aggregates with Bound Water for the Highly Shape‐Selective Synthesis of Silica Nanostructures

Novel Au-induced polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) aggregates with bound water (PVP-water) were created for the highly shape-selective synthesis of distinctive silica nanostructures, such as core-shell spheres, rods, snakes, tubes, capsules, thornlike, and dendritic morphologies. A water/PVP/n-pentanol system was first designed to bind water to PVP, and then Au nanoparticles were used to induce the PVP-water species to aggregate into distinctive soft structures by exploiting the interplay between PVP and gold. This was confirmed by the IR absorption spectra. The bound water in the soft structures was consumed during the hydrolysis of tetraethylorthosilicate and the target silica nanostructures were obtained. The soft structures, and therefore, the silica morphologies, can be readily tuned by adjusting the experimental parameters. The tunable Au-induced PVP-water soft structures reported herein open up new dimensions for the synthesis of distinctive nanomaterials (other than silica) that have new physicochemical properties and applications. These soft structures were also successfully extended to synthesize ZnO and SnO(2) particles with remarkable shapes, such as spheres, leaves, T-shaped structures, and dendritic morphologies.

Design of a Biocompatible and Optically-Stable Solution-Phase Substrate for SERS Detection

Abstract Detection of important biological molecules using surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) has become widely used because of the highly sensitive and label free approach offered by SERS as well as the low cytotoxic response from some SERS substrates. Gold nanoparticles are commonly used in SERS studies; however, the inherent instability of these metal nanostructures in solution adversely influences the reproducibility and quantitative nature of these measurements. Furthermore, the metal surface often denatures biomolecules upon their direct interaction. To combat this incompatibility and improve optical stability, gold nanoparticles have been encapsulated in silica shells. These Au@SiO2 nanostructures have been used extensively in cellular studies, but their SERS capabilities are generally limited to uses that include silica-entrapped SERS reporter molecules rather than direct SERS detection. This work focuses on combating these limitations via the fabrication of Au@SiO2 nanoparticles with porous silica membranes for the direct detection of target molecules in solution. Gold nanoparticles have been designed and coated with a variety of silica morphologies and subsequently interrogated using extinction spectroscopy and SERS. It will be revealed that these gold nanoparticles entrapped in silica membranes serve as optically stable substrates for the quantitative and direct detection of target molecules. These advances in nanomaterial fabrication are envisioned to impact both fundamental and applied studies in a variety of research areas including catalysis, separations, and spectroscopy.

Morphology of Artificial Silica Matrices Formed via Autosilification of a Silaffin/Protein Polymer Chimera

Protein polymers (long-chain proteins in which a specific amino acid sequence "monomer" is repeated through the molecule) are found widely in nature, and these materials exhibit a diverse array of physical properties. One class of self-assembling proteins is hydrophobic-polar (HP) protein polymers capable of self-assembly under the appropriate solution conditions. We generated a chimeric protein consisting of an HP protein polymer monomer unit, EAK 1 (sequence n-AEAEAKAKAEAEAKAK-c), and a silaffin peptide, R5 (sequence: n-SSKKSGSYSGSKGSKRRIL-c). First identified in diatoms, silaffins represent a class of proteins and peptides capable of directing silica precipitation in vitro at neutral pH and ambient temperatures. The EAK 1-R5 chimera demonstrated self-assembly into hydrogels and the ability to direct silica precipitation in vitro. This chimera is capable of generating silica morphologies and feature sizes significantly different from those achievable with the R5 peptide alone, indicating that fusions of silaffins with self-assembling proteins may be a route to controlling the morphology of artificially produced silica matrices.

Application of AFM in understanding biomineral formation in diatoms

We review previous work and present new data on the application of atomic force microscopy (AFM) to study biomineral formation in diatoms, unicellular algae that make cell walls of silica. Previous studies examined a small subset of mostly larger diatom species, identifying a prevalence of large particulate silica on the nanoscale. We survey different structures including valves, girdle bands, and elongated spines called setae, in a variety of species, and show a diversity of nano- and meso-scale silica morphologies, even on different portions of the same structure. A general trend of highly organized mesoscale silica structure on the proximal face of cell wall components was observed, with less organized structure occurring on the distal face. The highly organized structures have features suggestive of an underlying linear template, which defines the area of initial silica polymerization. Such features have not been imaged with such clarity previously, demonstrating the advantages of AFM to image small differences in surface morphology and providing new insights and confirming evidence for models of diatom silica structure formation. In addition to its imaging capability, more developed application of AFM to map locations of organic template components on the nanoscale will greatly aid in elucidating mechanisms of diatom biosilica synthesis.