Bio-inducing growth of ZnO hollow spheres in lotus root

In this paper, ZnO hollow spheres are prepared via an antitoxic bio-inducing process in lotus roots. FESEM images indicate that the tannin cells coated with ZnO are spherical with diameters ranging from 1.5 μm to 3 μm. The spheres with approximately the same size aggregate on the surface of vessels in short-range. The new bio-inducing process for formation of oxides hollow spheres might exist for long time in nature. It is proved that plant antitoxic function is the key factor to induce these structures formation. And moreover, it could be predicted that this bio-inducing phenomenon is an ideal way for preparation of materials with special structures.