Microcarriers: Luminescent Silicon Diatom Replicas: Self-Reporting and Degradable Drug Carriers with Biologically Derived Shape for Sustained Delivery of Therapeutics (Adv. Funct. Mater. 32/2015).

A. Santos, D. Losic, and co‐workers demonstrate on page 5107 the preparation of luminescent silicon diatom replicas with unique porous microcapsule structures, by conversion from silica diatoms using a reduction process. These silicon diatoms are biodegradable and have intrinsic luminescence, sensing and drug‐releasing properties which make them outstanding candidates for low‐cost micro‐carriers for drug delivery, theranostics, and guided micro‐robotic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]