A facile template-free hydrothermal method was successfully developed for the controlled synthesis of ultrathin α-quartz nanoplates (NPLs) for the first time. Analyses of the α-quartz NPLs revealed the characteristic anisotropic nanostructures of highly crystalline α-quartz with an average lateral size and thickness of 1.14 ± 0.32 μm and 7.7 ± 0.6 nm, respectively. Importantly, efficient extraction of highly valuable chemicals such as astaxanthin (ATX) from the microalgal cells of Haematococcus pluvialis (H. pluvialis) was accomplished by lacerating the cell walls using the ultrathin α-quartz NPLs under mild ultrasonication. The incorporation of α-quartz NPLs enhanced the ATX extraction efficiency significantly (99%, 18.0 ± 0.6 mg ATX/g cell) when coupled with 5 min of ultrasonication. The dosage of α-quartz NPLs (800.0 mg/L) for maximum ATX extraction was reduced substantially to only 8% of the nanomaterial dose used in the extraction controls. The enhanced extraction efficiency and dosage were explained by the role of the structural anisotropy of α-quartz NPLs in multiple phase separation-extraction processes. This work provides a novel, facile, and economical route for the synthesis of uniform ultrathin nanoplates, offering a new material for the highly efficient harvesting of chemical products from various microalgal biorefinery processes.

成功开发了一种简便的无模板水热方法，首次用于可控合成超薄α-石英纳米板（NPL）。对α石英NPL的分析表明，高度结晶的α石英具有各向异性的纳米结构，其平均横向尺寸和厚度分别为1.14±0.32μm和7.7±0.6 nm。重要的是，从雨生红球菌（H. pluvialis）的微藻细胞中高效提取有价值的化学物质，例如虾青素（ATX））是通过在温和的超声作用下使用超薄α-石英NPL撕裂细胞壁来完成的。当结合超声5分钟时，α-石英NPL的加入显着提高了ATX提取效率（99％，18.0±0.6 mg ATX / g细胞）。用于最大ATX提取的α-石英NPL（800.0 mg / L）的剂量大大降低，仅占提取对照所用纳米材料剂量的8％。α-石英NPLs的结构各向异性在多相分离萃取过程中的作用解释了萃取效率和剂量的提高。这项工作为合成均匀的超薄纳米板提供了一种新颖，便捷且经济的途径，为从各种微藻生物提炼工艺中高效收获化学产品提供了一种新材料。