Ceramic / Sol Gel

This is about a real ceramic film based on silicia or titanium.

Their resistance is excellent and makes possible to have a very smooth surface state : very usefull in many fields of application (slippage, anti-wear, air velocity for turbines, etc…)

Explanation of the process :

The sol-Gel processes allow the production of vitreous materials, possibly microporous to macroporous by polymerization (and possible thermal reprocessing) without use of melting process.

The glass is here directly manufactured from a liquid solution (then made colloidal) of silica and other chemical compounds (soda, lime, magnesia, …) and catalyst (or in a homogenized ultrasound solution (sonochemestry) and / or heated by microwave.

These materials are grouped under the generic name of “sol-gel process”.

By using this method, massive materials are available, but they are especially well suited to the production of films and coatings (for a surface treatment of glass, metal or plastifs : eg anti corrosion film or anti UV film), anti deposition of pollutants, anti abrasion, or even anti scratch and / or anti reflective treatment of lenses or other glasses or plastics (possibly two sided).

In addition, being able to produce purely inorganic materials, they are also well suited for the synthesis of organo mineral (doped) hybrid glasses. The necessary precurssors exist for a large number of metals, metalloids and non metals.

They are either liquid or solid, and for the last one mostly soluble in common solvents. It is therefole possible to prepare homogeneous monomers mixtures (precursors) or oligomers.