A luminescence study of porous diatoms

The cathodoluminescent and photoluminescent properties of the nanoporous silica frustules of various diatom strains and of natural diatom samples are presented. The spectra are observed to be similar to that of pure silica glass and the phenology is therefore believed to also be somewhat similar. A strong UV-blue luminescence peak is commonly observed as well as a yellow peak at 2.15 eV. For the more heavily silicified field-collected freshwater benthic samples, a strong red peak at 1.95 eV is also observed. The 2.15 eV peak is also more strongly evident for the field-collected samples. The UV-blue peak is related to common silica defect structure but cathodoluminescent microanalysis shows that this emission is highly localized in the diatom samples.