HYBRID ORGANIC-INORGANIC MATERIALS - THE SOL-GEL APPROACH

Many crystalline and non-crystalline ceramic oxides have now been prepared via the sol-gel method. The most recent exploitation of the Sol-Gel method is the preparation of hybrid organic inorganic materials which can be broadly divided into three types. In Type I,the porous oxide gel is impregnated with organics to form a nanocomposite. In Type 2, an organic is added to the liquid sol-gel solution as a mixture. After gelation, the organic is trapped in the porous oxide. In Type 3, the organic reacts with the precursors of the sol-gel liquid solution such that after gelation, it is chemically bonded to the inorganic oxide. The properties and structures of these new materials are reviewed in this Chapter.