Scattering below the sol-gel transition

Abstract
Solutions of tetramethoxysilicon are reacted until very near the sol-gel transition. At this point the sol is diluted and elastic and quasielastic light scattering measurements are made at intermediate momentum transfer. The static scattering exponent for the diluted sol is found to be in good agreement with the percolation prediction of 1.6, and the quasielastic scattering measurements demonstrate the flexibility of the sol clusters.