The pore morphology of fluoride catalyzed xerogels

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Abstract
The fluoride anion has been shown to be one of the most effective catalysts in accelerating the polycondensation of alkoxide-derived silica gels. A detailed pore analysis study has been employed to investigate the effect of NaF on the pore structure of the resulting xerogels and its evolution during thermal heat treatment up to 800 °C. Addition of NaF to tetramethylorthosilicate-sols leads to an increase in average pore size, and the pore size distribution becomes narrower. By changing the fluoride concentration and the heating temperature, the surface properties of the xerogels can be tuned over a wide range. The possible application of the F− anion catalyzed sol gel process to prepare porous host materials for the studies of fluids in restricted geometries is also discussed.

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