Losic Dusan, Short Ken, Mitchell James G, Lal Ratnesh, Voelcker Nicolas H
School of Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Sciences, and School of Biological Sciences, Flinders University, Bedford Park 5042, Australia.
Langmuir. 2007 Apr 24;23(9):5014-21. doi: 10.1021/la062666y. Epub 2007 Mar 31.
Diatoms have intricately and uniquely nanopatterned silica exoskeletons (frustules) and are a common target of biomimetic investigations. A better understanding of the diatom frustule structure and function at the nanoscale could provide new insights for the biomimetic fabrication of nanostructured ceramic materials and lightweight, yet strong, scaffold architectures. Here, we have mapped the nanoscale mechanical properties of Coscinodiscus sp. diatoms using atomic force microscopy (AFM)-based nanoindentation. Mechanical properties were correlated with the frustule structures obtained from high-resolution AFM and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Significant differences in the micromechanical properties for the different frustule layers were observed. A comparative study of other related inorganic material including porous silicon films and free-standing membranes as well as porous alumina was also undertaken.
硅藻具有复杂且独特的纳米图案化硅质外骨骼（壳），是仿生研究的常见对象。更好地理解纳米尺度下硅藻壳的结构和功能可为纳米结构陶瓷材料以及轻质但坚固的支架结构的仿生制造提供新见解。在此，我们使用基于原子力显微镜（AFM）的纳米压痕技术绘制了星杆藻属硅藻的纳米尺度力学性能图。力学性能与通过高分辨率AFM和扫描电子显微镜（SEM）获得的壳结构相关。观察到不同壳层的微机械性能存在显著差异。还对包括多孔硅膜、自支撑膜以及多孔氧化铝在内的其他相关无机材料进行了对比研究。
