Published online by Cambridge University Press: 15 February 2011
The application of the sol-gel process for the formation. of inorganic-organic composites has received a great deal of attention in recent years. We have focused our efforts in this area toward the development of simultaneous polymerization/sol-gel reactions for the developement of inorganic-organic composites with a wide range of polymers. Further research in this area has led to the design and synthesis of tetraalkoxysilanes, and more recently, poly(silicic acid esters) possessing polymerizable alkoxides for the synthesis of non-shrinking sol-gel composites.