Bioaccumulation of Titanium in diatom Cyclotella atomus Hust

Diatoms are unique photoautotrophic microalgae, in which the outer cell wall is composed of a silicified skeletal structure called frustules. These microalgae have relatively higher generation times and growth rates than other groups of microalgae. An interesting feature is that the diatom can accumulate a greater volume of heavy metals in its frustule, and have some specialized proteins and enzymes for detoxification of heavy metals. In the present study, a centric diatom was isolated from the Adyar River, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India, and morphologically identified as Cyclotella atomus Hust. Based on the bioaccumulation study on the treatment with TiO2 with culturing the diatom Cyclotella atomus and SEM-EDAX analysis it has resulted that, the Ti accumulated on the frustules of the diatom. Therefore, biogenic accumulation and fabrication of Titanium frustules in diatom have advantages in enhancing the efficiency of solar cells.