Sol-gel synthesis on self-replicating single-cell scaffolds: applying complex chemistries to nature's 3-D nanostructured templates.

A sol-gel process was used, for the first time, to apply a multi-component, nanocrystalline, functional ceramic compound (BaTiO3) to a three-dimensional, self-replicating scaffold derived from a single-celled micro-organism (a diatom).