Highly Cited Publications

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…]

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…]

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…]