This book introduces the fascinating world of self-assembly in mesoporous ordered silica films. Beginning from a single droplet, it guides the reader, in a step-by-step learning process, how to obtain and control ordered porous mesophases in thin films by varying only the precursor chemistry and the process. It explains, in great detail, how order control is achieved through chemical design and post-deposition processing, the latter of which is a unique property in materials science. The book places a special focus on silica, whose particularly complex chemistry enables order control over a range of different length scales. This book is suitable for students and researchers in the fields of sol-gel or colloidal chemistry and interested in the topics of self-assembly and mesoporous phases.

Explains the self-assembly process in thin films in a simple, concise, and comprehensive way Guides the reader in a step-by-step fashion Explores the phenomenon of order-disorder transitions

Autorentext

Plinio Innocenzi is a full professor of materials science at the University of Sassari, Italy, and director of the Laboratory of Materials Science and Nanotechnology (LMNT). He is a recognized scientist in the field of materials science and sol-gel chemistry, has edited several special issues in international journals, and has contributed expert chapters to professional handbooks. He is co-author of the book From Water Droplets to Nanotechnology (2015) and, with Springer in particular, he has published two editions of the SpringerBriefs The Sol-to-Gel Transition, as well as the popular science monograph The Innovators Behind Leonardo (2019). He currently has 220 publications in peer-reviewed international journals with more than 9700 citations, and an h-index of 51.

Inhalt

Understanding sol-gel chemistry for self-assembly.- Colloidal chemistry for self-assembly.- Evaporation driven self-assembly in silica films.- Getting order from self-assembly: what kind of order.- Controlling the mesoporous phases through processing.- Order-disorder in mesoporous ordered silica-films.- Conclusions.