Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
Gels have been prepared in the H2O, HOiPr, (BuO)2Al-O-Si(OEt)3 ternary phase diagram in a large range of oxide concentrations. The gelation time is governed by the initial water concentration, showing that the hydrolysis of Si-OR groups is the rate-determining process for the gelation.
The structure of clusters and the kinetics of aggregation have been studied by SANS. We observe mass-fractal particles characterized by a fractal dimension of 1.9, in agreement with the existence of a cluster-cluster aggregation mechanism during the gelation. The scattering curves exhibit a maximum intensity corresponding to interparticle correlations due to purely excluded-volume effects.