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Applications of melting gels

  • Brief Communication: Industrial and technological applications of sol-gel and hybrid materials
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Abstract

Hybrid organic-inorganic gels and glasses have been studied for many years for a variety of applications. Using the sol–gel process, it is possible to prepare silica-based hybrid gels that are rigid at room temperature, but soften and flow around 110 °C. This softening behavior has been called melting, even though it is not melting in a thermodynamic sense. Instead, the ability to flow is an indication that the material is not entirely cross-linked. In fact, some melting gels show glass transition behavior at temperatures below 0 °C. However, once these so-called melting gels have been heated at around 160 °C for 24 h, they no longer show the ability to soften. With an interest in using these materials for sealing microelectronics, their physical properties have been measured. In addition, their hydrophobicity, adhesion and electrochemical response have been evaluated in corrosive environments. It is also found that melting gels have been imprinted with good fidelity, and that gold nanoparticles maintain their plasmonic resonance when dispersed in melting gels. Finally, melting gels have been deposited by electrospraying to produce a variety of textures.

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Acknowledgements

Financial support was received from NSF Award 1313544 Materials World Network-SusChEM and Ministerio de Economia y Competitividad, SPAIN (PCIN-2013-030).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Materials Science and Engineering, Rutgers University, 607 Taylor Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    L. C. Klein, S. Kallontzi, L. Fabris & C. Ryan

  2. Department of Chemistry, Davis Hall, Lehman College-CUNY, 250 Bedford Park Boulevard West, Bronx, NY, 10468, USA

    A. Jitianu

  3. Chemistry and Biochemistry Program, The Graduate Center of the City University of New York, 365 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY, 10016-4309, USA

    A. Jitianu

  4. Instituto de Cerámica y Vidrio—CSIC, Kelsen 5, Campus de Cantoblanco, Madrid, 28049, Spain

    M. Aparicio

  5. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers University, 98 Brett Road, Piscataway, NJ, 08854, USA

    L. Lei & J. P. Singer

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  1. L. C. Klein
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  2. S. Kallontzi
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  3. L. Fabris
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Correspondence to L. C. Klein.

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Highlights

  • Melting gels are organic-inorganic hybrid gels with glass transition temperatures below room temperature

  • Melting gel coatings are nonporous and provide corrosion protection to metals

  • Melting gels doped with gold nanospheres exhibit a broad plasmon peak

  • Imprint lithography transfers patterns to melting gels with good fidelity

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Klein, L.C., Kallontzi, S., Fabris, L. et al. Applications of melting gels. J Sol-Gel Sci Technol 89, 66–77 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4599-9

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