Better chemistry through ceramics: the physical bases of the outstanding chemistry of ORMOSIL.
Twenty years after their invention, sol-gel organically modified silicates (ORMOSIL) are finding a number of impressive applications that range from efficient deliver of genes into mouse brains to self-ordered helices of interest to fields as diverse as optics, catalysis, molecular recognition, and chromatography. The physical bases of this mulifaceted chemistry, therefore, are of immense importance to scientists working toward new applications such as photovoltaics and catalysis that are crucially important in making sustainable global development. The purpose of this article is to provide a general picture of ORMOSIL's physical chemistry that will be useful in the creative development of new materials capable to solve a number of relevant open problems.
Pagliaro
Mario
M
Istituto per lo Studio dei Materiali Nanostrutturati, CNR, via U. La Malfa 153, 90146 Palermo, Italy. mario.pagliaro@ismn.cnr.it
Ciriminna
Rosaria
R
Wong Chi Man
Michel
M
Campestrini
Sandro
S