V

Contents

Preface XXXI
List of Contributors XXXIII

Volume One: Synthesis and Processing

Part One Sol–Gel Chemistry and Methods 1

1 Chemistry and Fundamentals of the Sol–Gel Process 3

Ulrich Schubert
1.1 Introduction 3
1.2 Hydrolysis and Condensation Reactions 4
1.2.1 Silica-Based Materials 4
1.2.1.1 Precursor(s) 9
1.2.1.2 Catalyst (pH) 9
1.2.1.3 Alkoxo Group/H2O Ratio (Rw) 9
1.2.1.4 Solvent 10
1.2.1.5 Electrolytes 10
1.2.2 Metal Oxide-Based Materials 11
1.3 Sol–Gel Transition (Gelation) 17
1.3.1 Hydrolytic Sol–Gel Processes 17
1.3.2 Nonhydrolytic Sol–Gel Processes 22
1.3.3 Inorganic–Organic Hybrid Materials 22
1.4 Aging and Drying 24
1.5 Postsynthesis Processing 26
1.6 Concluding Remarks 26
References 27

2 Nonhydrolytic Sol–Gel Methods 29

Rupali Deshmukh and Markus Niederberger
2.1 Introduction 29
2.2 Nonaqueous Sol–Gel Routes to Metal Oxide Nanoparticles 31
2.2.1 Surfactant-Assisted Synthesis 31