Organically modified silicates as inorganic-organic polymers

The combination between inorganic and organic polymeric materials on an atomic scale depends strongly on methods for synthesizing inorganic polymeric networks suitable to the thermal stability of organic materials. The sol-gel process as a "soft-chemistry" method has been proved to be a proper tool for building up inorganic network incorporating organic components. A review over examples for materi developments and possibilities of tailoring by chemistry using sol-gel techniques in combination with organic components (organically modified silicates) is given. (ISC)