Effects of pH During the Base Catalyzed Reaction of Two-Step Acid/Base Catalyzed Process on the Microstructures and Physical Properties of Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Modified Silica Xerogels

Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) modified silica xerogels were prepared by two-step acid/base catalyzed sol-gel process. By keeping the acid amount and hydrolysis period in acidic environment fixed, and adding different amounts of base to the sol afterwards, attempts had been made to study the effect of the different amounts of base catalyst on the micro-structure and physical properties of the prepared ORMOSILs. DTA, SEM, BET, FTIR were performed to characterize the derived specimens. The microstructure and physical properties are greatly influenced by the amount of base added to the sol. With increasing base content the crystallite size and porosity increase and the pore size distribution takes a broad spectrum. Whereas, the glass transition temperature seems to decrease with increasing of base catalyst amount. This is explained in terms of the change in the relative amounts of hydrolysis and condensation reactions due to the addition of different amount of base catalyst, which predominantly influences the condensation reactions. The results are reported in this communication along with possible explanations behind the observations.