Mesophases of (bio)polymer - silica particles inspire a model for silica biomineralization in diatoms

In situ ultrasmall-angle x-ray scattering (USAXS) on polymer- and protein-mediated silica transformations revealed a phase-sepn. process in which mesophases direct silica aggregation. The USAXS spectra obtained from the synthesized silica have characteristic features that resemble those obsd. for pore structures in diatom exoskeletons. The hypothesis that mesophases could explain silica biomineralization in diatoms is discussed