Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Metallo-organic materials are often used as precursors for highly refractory oxides and hightemperature composites. The feasibility of producing hafnium metallo-organic films and gels by sol-gel techniques is demonstrated in the present study. Since hafnium alkoxides are not commercially available, their preparation is an obstacle in the development of their sol-gel processing applications. A common synthesis technique was used to produce hafnium isopropoxide, which was subsequently hydrolyzed under acid catalyzed conditions to produce films and gels. The films were prepared by spin casting and remained optically transparent. Initially, the gels were also optically transparent, but became translucent upon drying. Raman, IR, and light scattering spectroscopies were used to characterize this sol-gel process, and it is compared with the analogous processing of titanium and zirconium alkoxides.