Microcarriers: Luminescent Silicon Diatom Replicas: Self‐Reporting and Degradable Drug Carriers with Biologically Derived Shape for Sustained Delivery of Therapeutics (Adv. Funct. Mater. 32/2015)

Abstract

A. Santos, D. Losic, and co-workers demonstrate on page 5107 the preparation of luminescent silicon diatom replicas with unique porous microcapsule structures, by conversion from silica diatoms using a reduction process. These silicon diatoms are biodegradable and have intrinsic luminescence, sensing and drug-releasing properties which make them outstanding candidates for low-cost micro-carriers for drug delivery, theranostics, and guided micro-robotic devices.