Materials Research Bulletin, Vol.29, No.12, 1223-1232, 1994
Rheological Study of Titanium Oxide-Based Gels
Dynamic rheological measurements have been performed on two different titanium oxo polymers based gels. These titanium oxide based gels were obtained from hydrolysis of the same molecular precursor titanium butoxide (Ti(OBu(n))4) using inorganic acids or complexing ligands such as acetylacetone as chemical additives. Dynamic rheological measurements are very sensitive and revealed differences between the sol-gel behavior of these two gels which are reflective of the difference in the synthetic conditions. The acid catalyzed gel is a highly chemically cross-linked polymeric system. The gel obtained in presence of complexing ligands is a weakly cross-linked particulate gel which rheological moduli are close to those of a liquid far after the gel point.