Influence of Baking and Acid Cleaning on the Morphology and Composition of Diatom Biosilica
1Living diatoms show a promise for applications in various fields in particular for the fabrication of micro/nano devices. This study acquired pure diatom walls (frustules) by several steps including collection, separation, and pure culture of marine diatoms. A two-step acid cleaning and baking method was adopted to purify biosilica structures from the diatoms. Results indicated that the morphology of the diatom frustules began to change at a baking temperature of 700 °C. With rising temperatures, the damage to the diatom frustules was more severe, but the composition was less affected by temperature. Therefore, an optimal parameter of 600 °C, 1 °C min-1, and 2 h was set for our study. However, because of the species-specific differences, the morphology and composition of the different frustules were not identical at the optimal parameter.