page_title: Sol–gel process
section_title: Nanomaterials
hierarchical_section_title: Sol–gel process / Nanomaterials
caption_attribution_description: English: Nanostructure of a resorcinol/formaldehyde gel reconstructed from small-angle scattering (SAXS). The solid phase of the gel is shown as the grey phase.
context_page_description: In materials science, the sol–gel process is a method for producing solid materials from small molecules. The method is used for the fabrication of metal oxides, especially the oxides of silicon and titanium. The process involves conversion of monomers into a colloidal solution that acts as the precursor for an integrated network of either discrete particles or network polymers. Typical precursors are metal alkoxides.
context_section_description: In the processing of fine ceramics, the irregular particle sizes and shapes in a typical powder often lead to non-uniform packing morphologies that result in packing density variations in the powder compact. Uncontrolled flocculation of powders due to attractive van der Waals forces can also give rise to microstructural heterogeneities.
  Differential stresses that develop as a result of non-uniform drying shrinkage are directly related to the rate at which the solvent can be removed, and thus highly dependent upon the distribution of porosity. Such stresses have been associated with a plastic-to-brittle transition in consolidated bodies, and can yield to crack propagation in the unfired body if not relieved.
  In addition, any fluctuations in packing density in the compact as it is prepared for the kiln are often amplified during the sintering process, yielding heterogeneous densification.
  Some pores and other structural defects associated with density variations have been shown to play a detrimental role in the sintering process by growing and thus limiting end-point densities. Differential stresses arising from heterogeneous densification have also been shown to result in the propagation of internal cracks, thus becoming the strength-controlling flaws.
  It would therefore appear desirable to process a material in such a way that it is physically uniform with regard to the distribution of components and porosity, rather than using particle size distributions which will maximize the green density. The containment of a uniformly dispersed assembly of strongly interacting particles in suspension requires total control over particle-particle interactions. Monodisperse colloids provide this potential.
  Monodisperse powders of colloidal silica, for example, may therefore be stabilized sufficiently to ensure a high degree of order in the colloidal crystal or polycrystalline colloidal solid which results from aggregation. The degree of order appears to be limited by the time and space allowed for longer-range correlations to be established. Such defective polycrystalline structures would appear to be the basic elements of nanoscale materials science, and, therefore, provide the first step in developing a more rigorous understanding of the mechanisms involved in microstructural evolution in inorganic systems such as sintered ceramic nanomaterials.
caption: Nanostructure of a resorcinol-formaldehyde gel reconstructed from small-angle X-ray scattering. This type of disordered morphology is typical of many sol–gel materials.[14]
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