Sol-gel processing is a soft-chemistry method to obtain functional materials at low temperatures. This route can be used to produce very sophisticated nanomaterials and to tailor the materials to very specific applications. Adsorption and detection of pollutants, water purification and soil remediation represent challenging fields of application that can be exploited by sol-gel materials. In this volume several contributions from invited speakers and participants at the NATO advanced research workshop on "Sol-gel approaches to materials for pollution control, water purification and soil remediation", which has been held in Kiev, Ukraine on October 2007, are reported. The book offers a wide and updated overview of the most advanced sol-gel methods for materials processing and at the same time presents several case studies concerning possible solutions for environmental issues. General articles on sol-gel from the invited speakers and focused research articles allow getting inside sol-gel applications on this very important field.

Inhalt

Design of Functionalized Polysiloxane Adsorbents and Their Environmental Applications; Y.L. Zub.- Nuclear Magnetic Resonance as Investigation Tool for Pollutant / Sorbent Interactions; N. Baccile and F. Babonneau.- Sol-Gel Approaches in the Synthesis of Membrane Materials for Nanofiltration and Pervaporation; B.C. Bonekamp et al.- Sol-Gel Synthesis of Nanostructured TiO2 Films for Water Purification; YongjunChen, Dionysios D. Dionysiou.- Application of Gel Systems with Various Biocatalysts Detoxifying Neurotoxic Agents for Pollution Control, Water Purification, and Self-defense; E. Efremenko et al.- Design of Inorganic and Inorganic-Organic Hybrid Materials by Sol-Gel Processing - from Nanostructures to Hierarchical Networks; N. Hüsing.- Mesoporous Thin Films: Properties and Applications; P. Innocenzi et al.- Active sol-gel materials; M. Jasiorski et al.- New Insight into Mechanisms of Sol-Gel Process and New Materials and Opportunities for Bioencapsulation and Biodelivery; V.G. Kessler, G.A. Seisenbaeva.- Selected Contemporary Topics in Sol-gel Electrochemistry; S. Sladkevich et al.- Synthesis of Sol-Gel and Gel-based Materials and Their Use for Adsorption of Organics Short Title: Hybrid Adsorbents from Polysiloxane Xerogels; D.J. Macquarrie, W. Hu.- Characterization of Gels and Networks using New Calorimetric Techniques; J.-M. Nedelec and M. Baba.- Organic-inorganic Hybrid Nanomaterials with Optical Properties for Use in Medical Applications; S. Parola.- Method of Competing Ions for Sol-gel Processing of Sorbents and Catalysts in Aqueous Solutions of Inorganic Salts; V. Strelko.- About Interactions between Sol-gel Derived Silica, Titania and Living Organisms; R. Viitala and S. Areva.- Mesoporous Silicas: Morphology Control and Template Synthesis inside Large Pores of Silica Gel; I.S. Berezovska et al.- Hybrid Siloxane-polyaminoamides for the Absorption of Heparin from Blood; D. Cauzzi et al.- Sol-gel Silica Films Doped with Chromium (III)Acetylacetonate on Aluminium Substrate; L. Davydenko et al.- Sorption of Hg2 by Mesoporous Silicas with a Functional =Si(CH2)2NHP(S)(OC2H5)2 Group in the Surface Layer; O.A. Dudarko et al.- Sol-Gel Process Preparation of Functional Silica Materials and their Application; V.E. Gaishun et al.- Sol-gel Derived Films in Porous Anodic Alumina; N.V. Gaponenko.- Sol-Gel Synthesis of Mesoporous TiO2 Films for Visible Light Sensitive TiO2/CdS Heterostructures; Y. Gnatyuk et al.- Obtaining of the Hybrid Silica-polymer Sorbents for Liquid Chromatography; S.S. Hayrapetyan et al.- Bimetallic Co-Based Catalysts Prepared by Sol-Gel for Methane Reforming by Carbon Dioxide; S.S. Itkulova et al.- Effect of Sodium Dodecylsulfate and Cetylpyridinium Chloride Act as Templates at Different pH Values on Sorption and Textural Properties of Mesoporous Silicas; T.F. Kouznetsova et al.- Factors Influencing the Adsorption Properties of Silicas Functionalized by Macrocycic Ligands; O.V. Kuchma and Y.L. Zub.- Sensors with Biorecognition Elements Entrapped into Silica Based Polymers; G. Kuncová.- Sol-gel Template-free and Template-structured Silica Films Functionalisation with Methylene Blue Dye and Ag Nanoparticles; T. Levchenko, Y. Pluto.- Synthesis, Structure and Adsorption Properties of Hexagonally Ordered Mesoporous Organosilicas Functionalized with Sulfur-Containing Groups Ordered Mesoporous Organosilicas; M. Barczak et al.- Sol-Gel Route to Carbon-Silica Molecular Sieving Adsorbents; M.S. Mel'gunoV et al.- Study Of Hg2 Sorption from Water Solutions by Mesoporous Silica with Thiourea Functional Groups; I.V. Melnyk et al.- Application of Sol-Gel Method for Synthesis of BiosenSitVe Polysiloxafle Matrix; R.P. Pogorilyi et al.- EPR Studies of New Silica Synthesis and Hemoglobin Encapsulation; F. Sartori et al.- Molecul Precursors of Mixed Oxide Materials for Sensor Applications and Molecular Imaging; G.A. Seisenbaeva et al.-