Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 February 2011
Organically modified silicates (ormosils) of high hardness were prepared bythe reactions of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)aided by ultrasonic irradiation. The mechanisms leading to the hard ormosilformation were investigated by liquid state 29Si NMRspectroscopy. PDMS chains were found to be broken into shorter chains and/or4-membered siloxane rings during the reaction and finally, all PDMS chainswere chemically incorporated as short chains into silica networks. Vickershardnesses of the hard ormosils were measured and compared with those of thehardest transparent plastics. Whereas the hardest transparent plastics haveVickers hardness values of less than 25 kg/mm2, the hard ormosilshave Vickers hardnesses up to higher than 150 kg/mm2. Atheoretical model was developed for the calculation of Vickers hardnesses ofthe hard ormosils and agreed well with experimental results. Predictionsbased on this theory indicate that even harder ormosils can be made when Al2O3, ZrO2 and TiO2 aresubstituted for SiO2. Results based on these new ormosils arealso presented.