Physical properties of sol-gel coatings

One of the most important applications of sol-gel technology is the fabrication of coatings. This is because of the possibility of applying oxide coatings with practically all types of chemical compositions at low ambient temperatures on many substrates of various shapes through the use of liquid solutions. Both oxides and different types of organic-inorganic hybrid coatings have been reported. Both oxides and hybrid coatings are usually amorphous at ambient temperatures but some oxides can be converted to the crystalline phase with heating. Regardless of the intended applications of the coatings their physical properties are always of importance. For instance, an anti-reflective coating for an automobile mirror is of little practical value unless it is fairly scratch-resistant. In this review which covers published information in the past fifteen years, some of the more important results of physical properties of sol-gel derived coatings are discussed firstly for oxides and then for organic-inorganic hybrids. It appears that properties such as the hardness of oxide coatings are inadequate unless the heat-treatment temperatures are in excess of about 400 degreesC. The hybrid coatings, especially when they contain a dispersed phase of a hard solid like colloidal silica, can be processed at temperatures below about 150 degreesC and can improve the performance of organic plastics such as the polycarbonates. There is insufficient scientific understanding of the relationship between physical properties and other interdependent variables such as processing conditions, chemistry and coating thickness. More research in this area will undoubtedly contribute to the availability of better and new coatings via the sol-gel approach.