Morphological characterization of silica obtained by calcination of methacrylic and epoxy – silica hybrid systems

The work is addressed to investigating the potentiality of calcination of organic-inorganic (O-I) hybrids as a feasible approach to produce silica particles, at mild temperature conditions and with tailored morphology. Two different innovative hybrid systems were obtained through sol-gel process with a siloxane content ranging from 6 to 26wt%. The two O-I hybrids differed for i) the organic matrix (methacrylic or epoxy), ii) its crosslinking mechanism (photopolymerization for methacrylic systems or thermal cold-cure for epoxy systems) and iii) the rate ratio between solgel and crosslinking reactions. Different characterization techniques were used to understand the effect of composition and curing method on the morphology of the silica obtained from O-I hybrids after calcination in air. The results confirm the morphology and properties of silica particles in terms of surface and porosity may be tailored over a wide range by varying the composition and nature of organic and inorganic precursors of hybrids