French scientists have accidentally discovered an interesting, almost spontaneous process for creating silica nanotubes.
The vertebral skeleton is probably the most remarkable example of the efficiency of living organisms to form robust structures that combine mineral and organic materials, in this case, calcium phosphate. With a complex shape and architecture, these natural structures are even more astonishing in that they spontaneously develop underwater under moderate conditions of temperature and pressure, by means of still unknown mechanisms. This is quite a dream for chemists, who are often forced to heat, squeeze, or compress materials under aggressive conditions to shape them.
Source: NanoTech Now
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