Optical characterisation of biological nano-porous silica structures

It is well known by far that biological organisms could exhibit sophisticated optical system, which compete or overcame the top technology products available. The diatoms are microscopic algae enclosed in intricate amorphous silica cells, called frustules. In this work the optical reflectivity data, infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and photoluminescence (PL) characterizations are presented for silica shells of Coscinodiscus wailesii, which is a centric diatom characterized from a diameter that varies in the range between 100 and 500 µm. Preliminary results suggest that the Coscinodiscus wailesii can be used as photonic material and sensor transducer.