Abstract
In the present work, the gelation of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) was carried out using electron irradiation. The electron source used was a 2 MeV Van de Graaff electron accelerator. Two samples were gelled; for the first one (SiO 2-1), a solution of TEOS was irradiated with a total dose of 324 kGy. Afterwards, NH 4OH was added, and the gelation occurred instantaneously. The second sample (SiO 2-2), was prepared using a solution of TEOS, but in this case the ammonium hydroxide was added to the solution before irradiation. FTIR spectroscopy results show a significant energy band shift for the pre-hydroxylized TEOS irradiated sample. The presence of room temperature stable OH − species was also established by EPR techniques in the SiO 2-2 irradiated sample. An unusually high acidity was observed in both samples.
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