FEM exploration of the potential of silica diatom frustules for vibrational MEMS applications

Abstract

Numerical simulations were carried out using the Finite Element Method (FEM) to determine the frequency characteristics of mechanical vibration of diatom silica frustules under the conditions and at frequencies that are not readily accessible to experimental measurement. The results revealed the influence of the frustule morphology on the natural frequency spectra. The effect of frustule density, stiffness, dimensions, pore size, and wall thickness on the eigenfrequencies and the corresponding modal shapes were studied in detail. Diatom frustules have natural frequencies in the range between several MHz and tens of MHz that make them a promising candidate for future MEMS applications. Eigenfrequencies depend linearly on the speed of sound in the frustule wall and decrease parabolically with the diameter and the pore size to diameter ratio. Dimensional analysis allowed obtaining functional correlations that encapsulate the various dependencies in compact analytical form. The satisfactory nature of our calculations and correlations derived from them is confirmed through an agreement with the analytical solutions from the literature.

Submerged membrane photobioreactor for the cultivation of Haslea ostrearia and the continuous extraction of extracellular marennine

“…This method could then also be an effective approach to reduce harvest costs as demonstrated by Bilad et al (2014). Then, the recovered biomass can be exploited for the extraction of intracellular marennine as well as the siliceous exoskeleton called frustule which could change the ways of manufacturing devices for energy storage, optoelectronics, solar cells and batteries (Abdusatorov et al, 2020).…”

In situ fluorescence/photoacoustic monitoring of diatom algae

“…In addition, given the axial and lateral resolution (10 μm and 40 μm, respectively) of the PA microscope, it is impossible to separate individual diatom cells. Besides, the frequencies of signals emitted by diatom cells may be attributed to the eigenfrequencies of vibrating silica frustules 44 .…”

Natural Frequencies of Diatom Shells: Alteration of Eigenfrequencies Using Structural Patterns Inspired by Diatoms

“…The 1st eigenfrequencies of the diatom shells were between 1-8 MHz. In addition, the effect of diatom frustule density, stiffness, dimensions, pore size, and wall thickness on the eigenfrequencies and mode shapes was analyzed [19]. They simulated very simplified centric and pennate diatoms and obtained 1st eigenfrequencies of about several MHz to tens of MHz.…”