Berlin 2005 – scientific programme
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AKB: Biologische Physik
AKB 200: Poster Session II
AKB 200.28: Poster
Tuesday, March 8, 2005, 17:00–19:00, Poster TU C
Local Distribution of Silica in Equisetum hyemale — •lanny sapei1, sandra lehmann2, robert nöske3, peter strauch3, and oskar paris1 — 1Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces, Biomaterial Department, Research Campus Golm, 14424 Potsdam — 2UP TRANSFER GmbH, Gesellschaft für Wissens- und Technologietransfer an der Universität Potsdam, Am Neuen Palais 10, 14469 Potsdam — 3Potsdam University, Chemistry Department, K-Liebknecht-Str. 24-25, 14476 Potsdam
Horsetail (Equisetum) is known as one of the strongest accumulators of silicon among higher terrestrial plants (up to 25% dry weight), mostly in the form of amorphous silica. This makes this plant an interesting candidate as a renewable resource of silica for the synthesis of biomorphous ceramics. We have examined the 3D Si-distribution in Equisetum hyemale using X-ray microtomography, supported by quantitative analysis with EDX mapping and Raman microscopy. The silica distribution within the plant tissue is quite heterogeneous, showing strong Si-accumulations in particular knobs at the epidermis. Scanning small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) with 0.1 mm spatial resolution reveals a strong scattering signal in these regions, quite different from the well known SAXS signal from cellulose in plant cell walls. This suggests that the silica is present in the form of nanoparticles.