Converting natural diatomite into nanoporous silicon for eco-friendly thermoelectric energy conversion

On the diatomite-based nanostructure-preserving material synthesis for energy applications

“…This review seeks to expand and cover all the major processing routes as far as diatomite in energy applications are concerned. Also, quite a lot of progress has been made in this area since the publication of these reviews 36,[59][60][61][62][63] and for that matter we present a report of the current progress made with biosilica diatomite for potential energy application while focusing deeply on the main synthesis routes common to most of the reports. Considering the fast progress in this area, we also report on unexplored areas related to energy research.…”

In Situ Formation of Nanoporous Silicon on a Silicon Wafer via the Magnesiothermic Reduction Reaction (MRR) of Diatomaceous Earth

“…Calcined diatomite is widely used in filters [31]. Both calcined and non-calcined diatomite precursors have been used in the MRR of diatomite [24,27]. In this study, no further heat treatment was carried out before mixing with NaCl and Mg.…”

“…Metallothermic reduction reaction (MRR) of silica to silicon has been studied over the past decade [24][25][26][27][28]. This technique has gained a lot of attention because of the low cost involved, lower temperature, and the ready availability of metals such as magnesium and aluminum.…”

“…This technique has gained a lot of attention because of the low cost involved, lower temperature, and the ready availability of metals such as magnesium and aluminum. Since Sandhage et al reported the conversion of diatom frustules to porous silicon replicas using magnesium vapor [27], significant further progress has been made in the area [24][25][26]28]. To the best of our knowledge, the majority of these reports have focused on producing silicon powders.…”

Diatomite inspired nanostructured quartz as a piezoelectric material

“…Recent reports of a vast application of diatomaceous earth (DE) in energy harvesting and storage applications indicates that diatomite could potential be the next energy material. At present, applications in batteries, supercapacitors, thermal energy storage, thermoelectric generators and photovoltaics have been reported (Karaman et al, 2011;Campbell et al, 2016;Yang et al, 2018;Zong et al, 2018). Although it is rich source of silica, which can be transformed to quartz, for piezoelectric applications, there are currently no reports of such applications.…”