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Advances in Sol-gel Derived Materials

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A special issue of Materials (ISSN 1996-1944).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2013) | Viewed by 56180

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Prof. Dr. Maryanne M. Collinson

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Department of Chemistry, College of Humanities and Sciences, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1001 West Main Street, P.O. Box 842006, Richmond, VA 23284-2006, USA
Interests: sol-gel chemistry; electrochemistry; high surface area materials; materials for separation science; bioanalytical chemistry

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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1283 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Liquid Foam Templates Associated with the Sol-Gel Process for Production of Zirconia Ceramic Foams

by Cristiane Carolina Beozzo, Marinalva Aparecida Alves-Rosa, Sandra Helena Pulcinelli and Celso Valentim Santilli

Materials 2013, 6(5), 1967-1979; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma6051967 - 10 May 2013

Cited by 15 | Viewed by 6185

Abstract

The unique properties of ceramic foams enable their use in a variety of applications. This work investigated the effects of different parameters on the production of zirconia ceramic foam using the sol-gel process associated with liquid foam templates. Evaluation was made of the influence of the thermal treatment temperature on the porous and crystalline characteristics of foams manufactured using different amounts of sodium dodecylsulfate (SDS) surfactant. A maximum pore volume, with high porosity (94%) and a bimodal pore size distribution, was observed for the ceramic foam produced with 10% SDS. Macropores, with an average size of around 30 μm, were obtained irrespective of the SDS amount, while the average size of the supermesopores increased systematically as the SDS amount was increased up to 10%, after which it decreased. X-ray diffraction analyses showed that the sample treated at 500 °C was amorphous, while crystallization into a tetragonal metastable phase occurred at 600 °C due to the presence of sulfate groups in the zirconia structure. At 800 and 1000 °C the monoclinic phase was observed, which is thermodynamically stable at these temperatures. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sol-gel Derived Materials)

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603 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Organized Silica Films Generated by Evaporation-Induced Self-Assembly as Hosts for Iron Oxide Nanoparticles

by Ioanna Andreou, Heinz Amenitsch, Vlassis Likodimos, Polycarpos Falaras, Petros G. Koutsoukos and Epameinondas Leontidis

Materials 2013, 6(4), 1467-1484; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma6041467 - 09 Apr 2013

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 6915

Abstract

In this work, we prepared oriented mesoporous thin films of silica on various solid substrates using the pluronic block copolymer P123 as a template. We attempted to insert guest iron oxide (Fe_xO_y) nanoparticles into these films by two different methods: (a) by co-precipitation—where iron precursors are introduced in the synthesis sol before deposition of the silica film—and subsequent oxide production during the film calcination step; (b) by preparing and calcining the silica films first then impregnating them with the iron precursor, obtaining the iron oxide nanoparticles by a second calcination step. We have examined the structural effects of the guest nanoparticles on the silica film structures using grazing incidence X-ray scattering (GISAXS), high-resolution transmission electron spectroscopy (HRTEM), spectroscopic ellipsometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman microscopy. Formation of nanoparticles by co-precipitation may induce substantial changes in the film structure leading, in our adopted process, to the appearance of lamellar ordering in the calcination stage. On the contrary, impregnation-based approaches perturb the film structures much more weakly, but are also less efficient in filling the pores with nanoparticles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sol-gel Derived Materials)

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443 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Structural and Luminescence Properties of Lu₂O₃:Eu³⁺ F127 Tri-Block Copolymer Modified Thin Films Prepared by Sol-Gel Method

by Angel De Jesus Morales Ramírez, Margarita García Hernández, Antonieta García Murillo, Felipe De Jesús Carrillo Romo, Joel Moreno Palmerin, Dulce Yolotzin Medina Velazquez and María Luz Carrera Jota

Materials 2013, 6(3), 713-725; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma6030713 - 26 Feb 2013

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 6560

Abstract

Lu₂O₃:Eu³⁺ transparent, high density, and optical quality thin films were prepared using the sol-gel dip-coating technique, starting with lutetium and europium nitrates as precursors and followed by hydrolysis in an ethanol-ethylene glycol solution. Acetic acid and acetylacetonate were incorporated in order to adjust pH and as a sol stabilizer. In order to increment the thickness of the films and orient the structure, F127 Pluronic acid was incorporated during the sol formation. Structural, morphological, and optical properties of the films were investigated for different F127/Lu molar ratios (0–5) in order to obtain high optical quality films with enhanced thickness compared with the traditional method. X-ray diffraction (XRD) shows that the films present a highly oriented cubic structure <111> beyond 1073 K for a 3-layer film, on silica glass substrates. The thickness, density, porosity, and refractive index evolution of the films were investigated by means of m-lines microscopy along with the morphology by scanning electron microscope (SEM) and luminescent properties. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sol-gel Derived Materials)

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207 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Thermal Annealing Effect on Optical Properties of Binary TiO₂-SiO₂ Sol-Gel Coatings

by Xiaodong Wang, Guangming Wu, Bin Zhou and Jun Shen

Materials 2013, 6(1), 76-84; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma6010076 - 24 Dec 2012

Cited by 46 | Viewed by 8824

Abstract

TiO₂-SiO₂ binary coatings were deposited by a sol-gel dip-coating method using tetrabutyl titanate and tetraethyl orthosilicate as precursors. The structure and chemical composition of the coatings annealed at different temperatures were analyzed by Raman spectroscopy and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The refractive indices of the coatings were calculated from the measured transmittance and reflectance spectra. An increase in refractive index with the high temperature thermal annealing process was observed. The Raman and FTIR results indicate that the refractive index variation is due to changes in the removal of the organic component, phase separation and the crystal structure of the binary coatings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sol-gel Derived Materials)

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Review

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1741 KiB

Open AccessReview

A Special Material or a New State of Matter: A Review and Reconsideration of the Aerogel

by Ai Du, Bin Zhou, Zhihua Zhang and Jun Shen

Materials 2013, 6(3), 941-968; https://doi.org/10.3390/ma6030941 - 08 Mar 2013

Cited by 403 | Viewed by 26931

Abstract

The ultrahighly nanoporous aerogel is recognized as a state of matter rather than as a functional material, because of its qualitative differences in bulk properties, transitional density and enthalpy between liquid and gas, and diverse chemical compositions. In this review, the characteristics, classification, history and preparation of the aerogel were introduced. More attention was paid to the sol-gel method for preparing different kinds of aerogels, given its important role on bridging the synthetic parameters with the properties. At last, preparation of a novel single-component aerogel, design of a composite aerogel and industrial application of the aerogel were regarded as the research tendency of the aerogel state in the near future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Sol-gel Derived Materials)

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