Abstract:The silica cell walls of diatoms,
the abundant microalga 1–100
μm in size, show a highly ordered hierarchical porosity and
are widely available through their fossilized form known as diatomite.
The goal of this research was to use this cost-effective source of
porous silica in a unidirectional freezing process called ice-templating,
or freeze casting, to create a ceramic membrane with unidirectional
lamellar walls of ∼15 μm channels, which allows for an
efficient mass transport of fluids (i.e., low pressure dr… Show more
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