In Vivo Shaping of Inorganic Functional Devices using Microalgae

Area of Science:

• Biomaterials science
• Nanotechnology
• Microbiology

Background:

• Conventional synthesis of nanostructured materials has environmental drawbacks.
• Biomineralization by microalgae offers a sustainable and reproducible alternative.
• Coccoliths from microalgae are of significant interest for material synthesis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To generate mesoporous, highly structured functional materials with optoelectronical properties.
• To demonstrate the metabolic incorporation of terbium into Emiliania huxleyi coccoliths.
• To synthesize finely patterned photoluminescent particles using a biological route.

Main Methods:

• Utilizing in vivo biomineralization processes of the microalga Emiliania huxleyi.
• Feeding E. huxleyi with the lanthanide terbium to induce its metabolic incorporation.
• Characterizing the resulting nanostructured materials for their structural and photoluminescent properties.

Main Results:

• Successfully generated green luminescent particles with hierarchical pores (nano- and microscale).
• Demonstrated the metabolically driven incorporation of terbium into E. huxleyi coccoliths.
• The synthesized luminescent coccoliths exhibit unique hierarchical structures and luminescence patterns.

Conclusions:

• Biomineralization by E. huxleyi provides a novel route for synthesizing advanced functional materials.
• These luminescent coccoliths are superior to conventionally produced terbium-doped materials.
• Potential applications include biomedical imaging probes and microoptics, highlighting coccoliths as advanced functional materials for nanotechnology.