Highly Cited Publications

Total Citations : 15,766

Article
Sol-gel science: the physics and chemistry of sol-gel processing
Authors
C Jeffrey Brinker, George W Scherer
Publication date
2013/10/22
Publisher
Academic press
Description
Sol-Gel Science: The Physics and Chemistry of Sol-Gel Processing presents the physical and chemical principles of the sol-gel process. The book emphasizes the science behind sol-gel processing with a chapter devoted to applications. The first chapter introduces basic terminology, provides a brief historical sketch, and identifies some excellent texts for background reading. Chapters 2 and 3 discuss the mechanisms of hydrolysis and condensation for nonsilicate and silicate systems. Chapter 4 deals with stabilization and gelation of sols. Chapter 5 reviews theories of gelation and examines the predicted and observed changes in the properties of a sol in the vicinity of the gel point. Chapter 6 describes the changes in structure and properties that occur during aging of a gel in its pore liquor (or some other liquid). The discussion of drying is divided into two parts, with the [read more…]

Total Citations: 2084

Article
Evaporation-induced self-assembly: nanostructures made easy
Authors
C Jeffrey Brinker, Yunfeng Lu, Alan Sellinger, Hongyou Fan
Publication date
1999/5/1
Journal
Advanced materials
Description
As we look toward the next millennium, we envision new technologies based on nanoscale machines and devices. Key to the realization of this nanotech world are simple, efficient methods of organizing materials (molecules, molecular clusters, polymers, or, generally speaking, building blocks) into precise, predetermined nanostructures that can be preserved in a robust engineering form. Marine organisms like diatoms and radiolaria provide us with many examples of intricately organized architectures preserved in silica or calcium carbonate. Such natural microstructures are formed by biomineralization,[1] a templated self-assembly process in which preorganized organic surfaces regulate the nucleation, growth, morphology and orientation of inorganic crystals. To date, a variety of synthetic pathways that mimic aspects of biomineralization have been explored to prepare patterned ceramic [read more…]

Total Citations: 1629

Article
Continuous formation of supported cubic and hexagonal mesoporous films by sol–gel dip-coating
Authors
Yunfeng Lu, Rahul Ganguli, Celeste A Drewien, Mark T Anderson, C Jeffrey Brinker, Weilang Gong, Yongxing Guo, Hermes Soyez, Bruce Dunn, Michael H Huang, Jeffrey I Zink
Publication date
1997/9
Publisher
Nature Publishing Group
Description
Thin films of surfactant-templated mesoporous materials 1, 2 could find applications in membrane-based separations, selective catalysis and sensors. Above the critical micelle concentration of a bulk silica–surfactant solution, films of mesophases with hexagonally packed one-dimensional channels can be formed at solid–liquid and liquid–vapour interfaces 3, 4, 5. But this process is slow and the supported films 3, 5 are granular and withthe pore channels oriented parallel to the substrate surface, so that transport across the films is not facilitated by the pores. Ogawa 6, 7 has reported a rapid spin-coating procedure for making transparent mesoporous films, but their formation mechanism, microstructure and pore accessibility have not been elucidated. Here we report a sol–gel-based dip-coating method for the rapid synthesis of continuous mesoporous thin films on a solid substrate [read more…]