Abstract
This review is devoted to non-hydrolytic sol-gel chemistry. During the last 25 years, non-hydrolytic sol-gel (NHSG) techniques were found to be attractive and versatile methods for the preparation of oxide materials. Compared to conventional hydrolytic approaches, the NHSG route allows reaction control at the atomic scale resulting in homogeneous and well defined products. Due to these features and the ability to design specific materials, the products of NHSG reactions have been used in many fields of application. The aim of this review is to present an overview of NHSG research in recent years with an emphasis on the syntheses of mixed oxides, silicates and phosphates. The first part of the review highlights well known condensation reactions with some deeper insights into their mechanism and also presents novel condensation reactions established in NHSG chemistry in recent years. In the second section we discuss porosity control and novel compositions of selected materials. In the last part, the applications of NHSG derived materials as heterogeneous catalysts and supports, luminescent materials and electrode materials in Li-ion batteries are described.
Highlights
This review summarizes recent progress in the area of non-hydrolytic sol-gel chemistry
non-hydrolytic sol-gel (NHSG) methodologies have been described with emphasis on new synthetic pathways, their mechanisms and how these correlate with the homogeneity of final products
The non-hydrolytic condensation reactions reported here offer wide variability in the choice of precursors and allow for the control of the reaction rates resulting in homogeneous products with specific properties and compositions
Summary
Sol-gel chemistry based on hydrolysis and condensation of metal alkoxides is a powerful and well-established technique used for the preparation of metal oxides in various forms—xerogels, aerogels, micro/nanoparticles, fibers, thin films, etc. Non-aqueous conditions are useful in the synthesis of hybrid materials, where the homogeneous distribution of organic groups is achieved [24] Another advantage is that more controllable conditions can provide uniform and stable siloxane polymers [25,26]. The condensation rates in NHSG are generally lower in comparison to hydrolytic sol-gel (HSG) which can be advantageous in the synthesis of oligomeric species as well. These can be used as building blocks in further materials processing [27,28,29,30]. The third part (New applications) shows some contemporary examples of utilization of materials prepared by NHSG techniques
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