Alkoxides precursors

Specialty Aluminas. Process control (qv) teclmiques permit production of calcined specialty aluminas ha nng controlled median particle sizes differentiated by about 0.5 ]lm. Tliis broad selection enables closer shrinkage control of high tech ceramic parts. Production of pure 99.99% -AI2O2 powder from alkoxide precursors (see Alkoxides, metal), apparently in spherical form, offers the potential of satisfying the most advanced appUcations for calcined aluminas requiring tolerances of 0.1% shrinkage. 

Overview. Three approaches are used to make most sol—gel products method 1 involves gelation of a dispersion of colloidal particles method 2 employs hydrolysis and polycondensation of alkoxide or metal salts precursors followed by supercritical drying of gels and method 3 involves hydrolysis and polycondensation of alkoxide precursors followed by aging and drying under ambient atmospheres. 

Mixing. In method 1, a suspension of colloidal powders, or sol, is formed by mechanical mixing of colloidal particles in water at a pH that prevents precipitation (step A in Fig. 1) (8). In method 2 or 3, a Hquid alkoxide precursor such as Si(OR)4, where R is CH (TMOS), C2H (TEOS), or C Hy, is hydrolyzed by mixing with water (eq. 2). 

S.3.2 Sol-Gel Encapsulation of Reactive Species Another new and attractive route for tailoring electrode surfaces involves the low-temperature encapsulation of recognition species within sol-gel films (41,42). Such ceramic films are prepared by the hydrolysis of an alkoxide precursor such as, Si(OCH3)4 under acidic or basic condensation, followed by polycondensation of the hydroxylated monomer to form a three-dimensional interconnected porous network. The resulting porous glass-like material can physically retain the desired modifier but permits its interaction with the analyte that diffuses into the matrix. Besides their ability to entrap the modifier, sol-gel processes offer tunability of the physical characteristics... 

Alcohol dehydrogenase, 178 Alkaline error, 149 Alkaline phosphatase, 185 Alkanethiols, 46, 123 Alkoxide precursor, 120 Amino acids, 92, 187 Ammonium sensor, 181, 182 Amperometric sensors, 172 Aniline, 35, 39... 

Sol-gel chemistry offers a unique advantage in the creation of novel organic-inorganic hybrids. The sol-gel process begins with a solution of metal alkoxide precursors [M(0/f) ] and water, where M is a network-forming element, and R is typically an alkyl group. Hydrolysis and... 

The sol-gel process involves hydrolysis of alkoxide precursors under acidic or basic conditions, followed by condensation and polycondensation of the hydroxylated units, which lead to the formation of porous gel. Typically a low molecular weight metal alkoxide precursor molecule such as tetramethoxy silane (TMOS) or tetra ethoxysilane (TEOS) is hydrolyzed first in the presence of water, acid catalyst, and mutual solvent... 

In some instances, this approach has proven successful, with comparatively low crystallization temperatures being observed. For example, Eichorst and Payne in the synthesis of LiNb03 noted crystallization temperatures of 400-500 °C for a mixed-metal alkoxide precursor.111 In other instances, these attempts have proven less successful. Numerous attempts have been made to synthesize Pb-Zr and Pb-Ti precursors, each with the 1 1 cation stoichiometry of the desired PbZr03 and PbTi03 compounds.83,84 Unfortunately, 1 1 stoichiometric ratio compounds have not always been obtained, with crystalline compounds of other stoichiometries precipitating from the solution, as illustrated in Fig. 2.11.83 This figure shows the crystal structure of PbTi2[p(4)—... 

Figure 5.15 The Biosil process. Si-OR alkoxide precursors ROH reaction by-products. (Reproduced from ref. 27b, with permission.)...

A. Fidalgo, R. Ciriminna, L. M. Ilharco and M. Pagliaro, Role of the Alkyl-Alkoxide Precursor on the Structure and Catalytic Properties of Hybrid Sol-Gel Catalysts, Chem. Mater., 2005, 17, 6686. 

Generally, two common methods, the Stober method and the reverse microemulsion method are used for synthesis of silica nanoparticles. As derivatives of a sol-gel process, both methods involve hydrolysis of a silicon alkoxide precursor to form a hydroxysilicate followed by polycondensation of the hydroxysilicate to form a silica nanoparticle [44]. 

The Stober method is also known as a sol-gel method [44, 45], It was named after Stober who first reported the sol-gel synthesis of colloid silica particles in 1968 [45]. In a typical Stober method, silicon alkoxide precursors such as tetramethylorthosili-cate (TMOS) and tetraethylorthosihcate (TEOS), are hydrolyzed in a mixture of water and ethanol. This hydrolysis can be catalyzed by either an acid or a base. In sol-gel processes, an acidic catalyst is preferred to prepare gel structure and a basic catalyst is widely used to synthesize discrete silica nanoparticles. Usually ammonium hydroxide is used as the catalyst in a Stober synthesis. With vigorous stirring, condensation of hydrolyzed monomers is carried out for a certain reaction time period. The resultant silica particles have a nanometer to micrometer size range. 

The Stober method can be used to form core-shell silica nanoparticles when a presynthesized core is suspended in a water-alcohol mixture. The core can be a silica nanoparticle or other types of nanomaterials [46, 47]. If the core is a silica nanoparticle, before adding silicon alkoxide precursors, the hydroxysilicates hydrolyzed from precursors condense by the hydroxide groups on the surface of the silica cores to form additional layers. If the core is a colloid, surface modification of the core might be necessary. For example, a gold colloid core was modified by poly (vinylpyrrolidone) prior to a silica layer coating [46]. 

A variation of this method was used to control the surface properties of aluminum oxide particles, particularly the surface density of Lewis acid sites. Instead of using a long-chain amine surfactant, the solution of aluminum alkoxide precursor was mixed with a small amine to convert the alkoxide dimer (or oligomer in general) into monomeric alkoxide-amine adduct. Controlled hydrolysis of this adduct produces an aluminum oxyhydroxide in which the surface A1 ions are coordinated to amine... 

Another challenge faced by sol-gel technologies involves controUing the dispersion of different metals within a mixed metal (e.g., sihcon and titanium) matrix. The solvolysis and condensation steps for metal alkoxide precursors involved in sol-gel reactions can be quite different from that of orthosilicates, which often leads to the loss of dispersion and formation of separate silica and other metal oxide domains [54]. 

In 1968, Stober et al. (18) reported that, under basic conditions, the hydrolytic reaction of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) in alcoholic solutions can be controlled to produce monodisperse spherical particles of amorphous silica. Details of this silicon alkoxide sol-gel process, based on homogeneous alcoholic solutions, are presented in Chapter 2.1. The first attempt to extend the alkoxide sol-gel process to microemul-sion systems was reported by Yanagi et al. in 1986 (19). Since then, additional contributions have appeared (20-53), as summarized in Table 2.2.1. In the microe-mulsion-mediated sol-gel process, the microheterogeneous nature (i.e., the polar-nonpolar character) of the microemulsion fluid phase permits the simultaneous solubilization of the relatively hydrophobic alkoxide precursor and the reactant water molecules. The alkoxide molecules encounter water molecules in the polar domains of the microemulsions, and, as illustrated schematically in Figure 2.2.1, the resulting hydrolysis and condensation reactions can lead to the formation of nanosize silica particles. 

Sol-gel processing almost exclusively involves metal alkoxides as precursor chemicals. An alkoxide is an alkane with an oxygen interposed between at least one of the carbon atoms and the metal—for example, (OC2H5)4Si, known as tetraethoxysilane (TEOS, a.k.a. tetratethyl orthosilicate). Other common alkoxide precursors are listed in Table 7.15. TEOS is used to produce the sol-gel-derived silica that generated the X-ray diffraction pattern in Figure 1.50. Let us use silica as an example to study the steps in the sol-gel process. 

Bicyclic alcohols with angular methyl groups (11, 10-11). The reaction of 2,5-dimethylmethylenecyclopentane (1) with acrolein (1 equiv.) and (CH3)2A1C1 involves two sequential ene reactions to give the expected bicyclic alcohol 2 (69%) and in addition the corresponding ketone 3 (12% yield), even in the absence of an oxidant.6 In the presence of 2 equiv. of acrolein, the reaction results in 3 in 60% yield and only 1% of 2. Apparently, the alkoxide precursor to 2 undergoes... 

Controlled hydrolysis and condensation of metal alkoxide precursors, followed by drying at ambient pressure and temperalure. 

Definitions. Colloids are solid particles with diameters of 1 100 nanometers, A sol is a dispersion of colloidal particles in a liquid. A gel is an interconnected rigid network of sub-micrometer dimensions. A gel can be formed from an array of discrete colloidal particles (Method I) or the 3-D network can be formed from the hydrolysis and condensation of liquid meial alkoxide precursors (Methods 2 and 3). shown in Fig. 11. The metal alkoxide precursors used in Methods 2 and 3 are usually Si(OR)4 where R is CHj. C-Hj. or C3H7. The metal ions can be Si, Ti. Sn. Al, and so on,... 

As has been mentioned above, of the many works devoted to the studies of the chemical properties of metal alkoxides, we here can consider only the reactions of partial substitution for the alkoxide groups (Chapter 7), decomposition with formation of oxocomplexes (Chapter 5), and hydrolysis with the formation of homo- and heterometallic hydroxides (Chapters 9 and 10). We discuss here the complex formation products of metal alkoxides — the adducts with neutral ligands, M(OR) mL, and the bimetallic alkoxides, precursors of complex oxides in sol-gel technology. 

In particular, we have chosen to have a close look at the synthesis and properties of ferroelectrics and related materials, where the sol-gel method with application ofmetal alkoxide precursors seems to have produced the most promising results. In most cases we have selected for discussion in this chapter those works on the preparation of complex oxides, emphasized that the chemistry of the precursors and its role for the properties of complex oxide phases. 

Barium titanate and BaTi03-based materials are most commonly used for ceramic capacitors with high dielectric permittivity. BaTi03 powder of extremely high quality (in respect of its purity, stoichiometry, particles morphology) is required for most of the modem applications. This characteristic may be considerably improved by the application of alkoxide precursors. Thus, it is of no surprise that synthesis of BaTi03 and BaTi03-based materials from metal alkoxides attracted considerable attention for several decades. The first works on... 

IR spectra measurements as well as variation of the film thickness, shrinkage, and refractive index demonstrated substantial differences in the mechanisms of thermal decomposition of films prepared from the exclusively metal alkoxide precursor and from the metal alkoxides modified by 2-ethylhexanoic acid. These differences affect the evolution of film microstructure and thus determine the different dielectric properties of the obtained films. The dielectric permittivity of the films prepared from metal alkoxide solutions was relatively low (about 100) and showed weak dependence ofthe bias field. This fact may be explained by the early formation of metal-oxide network (mostly in the... 

The same metal alkoxide precursor solutions in EtOH and methoxyetha-nol, which were used for preparation ofpowders were also suggested for application of LiNb03 and NaNb03 films on Pt and quartz substrates [524, 1778]. The choice of solution concentration and thickness ofthe layer, which undergoes calcination, is very important for the preparation of films without cracks or bubbles. Oriented LiNbxTa,.x03 (0 < x < 1) films were obtained on the... 

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