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In nature, living systems have evolved mechanisms to promote the formation of material-based structures (from the nanoscale to organism-wide architectures) that enormously exceed our synthetic strategies in the control over morphology and function, and in the efficiency of the process.
Bio-inspired strategies have thus been considered for directing the preparation of materials of healthcare and industrial relevance. One such example is nanostructured silica, which is a widely used material in food, construction, industrial chemistry and biomedical materials, because of its high stability, negligible toxicity and good biocompatibility. However, the preparation of nanostructured silica requires harsh reaction conditions, the use of toxic chemicals, and high energy requirements, and is thus not environmentally sustainable. In contrast, organisms as diatoms make silica under mild conditions, and are an inexhaustible source of inspiration for new routes for silica production. Notably, the same chemistry can be used to promote the formation of other inorganic oxides.

On these grounds, it can be thus expected that bio-inspired strategies can represent an effective and sustainable alternative to conventional chemical processing, reducing the energy burden as well as the use of noxious solvents and reagents. Therefore the methodologies we will develop will contribute to decreasing the environmental footprint of chemical/biotechnological processes.
In the early 2000s, the pioneering work of Kroger and co-workers revealed that the main biological components that are responsible for the silicification are the polycationic silaffins, further modified with long-chain polyamines. However, after more than 20 years of research, the silicification process remains largely unknown.