Sacrificial Biological Templates for the Formation of Nanostructured Metallic Microshells†
CAM acknowledges the AFOSR for support of this research.
Graphical Abstract
Biological templates: Diatom cell walls were coated with metallic films and then subsequently dissolved to yield nanostructured metallic microshells that exhibit the structural characteristics of the diatom templates. The unique nanostructural details of the microshells (see image) make them useful as substrates for surface-enhanced Raman scattering.