ABSTRACT
Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 765
Silica Chemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767
How Silica Grows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 767
The Silica Surface-Water Interface . . . . . . . . . . . . 768
Silica-Metal Ion Interactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 769
Silica Complexation with Polyols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 770
Diatoms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 771
The Growth of Silica Within Diatoms . . . . . . . . . . 771
Silica Influence on Crystalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772
Adsorption on Bacterial Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772
Microbial Influence on Silicate Weathering . . . . . . 772
Silica Toxicology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 772
Bioactive Silica Containing Materials . . . . . . . . 773
Materials Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 773
Organic Templating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774
Bioencapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 774
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 775
Derek Birchall would have enjoyed the renewed interest
in the colloidal chemistry of silica with emphasis on bio-
logical application. He was looking forward to a future
meeting [1] like the one in memory of Ralph Iler at the
200th ACS Meeting in Washington, DC in 1990 where
researchers from around the world could share their views.
