Sol Gel Applications

Gelest offers a wide range of metal alkoxides for use in sol gel applications. Sol gel is a method for preparing specialty metal oxide glasses and ceramics by hydrolyzing a chemical precursor or mixture of precursors that pass sequentially through a solution state and a gel state before being dehydrated to a glass or ceramic.

Preparation of metal oxides using sol gel routes proceeds by three basic steps:

1. partial hydrolysis of metal alkoxides to form reactive monomers,
2. condensation of these monomers to form colloid-like oligomers (sol formation),
3. additional hydrolysis to promote polymerization and cross-linking leading to a three-dimensional matrix (gel formation).

The flexibility of sol gel technology allows unique access to multi-component oxide systems and low temperature process regimens.