The physics of evaporation-induced assembly of sol-gel materials

摘要

Remarkable materials ordered at the nano- sclae emerge when a sol-gel solution becomes co-organized with a surfactant. At sufficiently high concentration, the surfactant forms crystalline or liquid-crystalline arrays of micelles in the presence of the sol-gel, and as gelation proceeds the arrays become locked into the gel. Recent experiments demonstrate that the degree of order in the resulting mesoporous ceramic phase can be enhanced and controlled by continuous dip coating in which the solu- tion, initially dilute, evolves through the critical micelle concentration by steady-state evaporation.