Luminescence Materials via Pechini-type Sol-Gel Process

Study Notes

The sol-gel process is a widely used technique for designing and synthesizing advanced functional and engineering materials.
It has found extensive application in the production of various materials, including powders, films, fibers, and monoliths of diverse shapes, sizes, and chemical compositions.
The sol-gel process can also be used to synthesize nanostructures and organic-inorganic hybrids.

The PSG process is a type of soft solution process that is widely used for the synthesis of homogeneous multicomponent metal oxide materials.
It involves a combined process of metal complex formation and in situ polymerization of organics.
The PSG process can produce luminescence and pigment materials with different forms, such as powders, core-shell structures, and thin films.

The PSG process uses common metal salts (nitrates, acetates, chlorides, etc.) as precursors and citric acid (CA) as a chelating ligand.
The process uses polyhydroxy alcohols (such as ethylene glycol or polyethylene glycol) as a cross-linking agent to form a polymeric resin on a molecular level.
The PSG process reduces segregation of particular metal ions and ensures compositional homogeneity.
It can overcome the difficulties and disadvantages of the alkoxides-based sol-gel process.

The process involves the formation of stable metal complexes using citric acid (CA) or other R-hydroxycarboxylic acids.
The metal complexes are then polyesterified with polyhydroxy alcohols (such as ethylene glycol or polyethylene glycol) to form a polymeric resin.
The immobilization of metal complexes in the rigid organic polymer network reduces segregation of particular metal ions, ensuring compositional homogeneity.

The PSG process uses common metal salts (nitrates, acetates, chlorides, etc.) as precursors and citric acid (CA) as chelating ligands of metal ions.
Polyhydroxy alcohol (e.g., ethylene glycol or poly ethylene glycol) is used as a cross-linking agent to form a polymeric resin on a molecular level.
This process ensures compositional homogeneity and reduces segregation of particular metal ions.

The PSG process overcomes difficulties and disadvantages of the alkoxides-based sol-gel process.
It is a well-known soft solution process with extensive applications in designing and synthesizing various advanced functional and engineering materials.
Materials synthesized using PSG include powders, films, fibers, monoliths, nanostructures, and organic-inorganic hybrids.

The PSG process is used to synthesize multiform oxide optical materials.
The authors' laboratories have worked on various kinds of oxide optical materials using the PSG process.

Title: Multiform Oxide Optical Materials via the Versatile Pechini-Type Sol-Gel Process: Synthesis and Characteristics
Authors: Jun Lin, Min Yu, Cuikun Lin, and Xiaoming Liu
Published in: J. Phys. Chem. C, 2007, 111, 5835-5845
Received: January 4, 2007; In Final Form: January 26, 2007