Sol-Gel

The sol-gel technique is a process for producing materials allowing the synthesis of glasses, ceramics and hybrid organo-mineral compounds, from precursors in solution. It makes it possible to produce thin layers made up of stacks of metal oxide nanoparticles.

This process is carried out under mild chemical conditions, at temperatures lower than those of conventional synthetic routes. These conditions also offer the possibility of associating organic and mineral species to form new families of hybrid compounds with novel properties.

This process can be used in different fields but it is in the production of thin layer deposits that it finds its main application. Indeed, this method is particularly well suited to the production of films and coatings, for example for surface treatment of glass, metal or plastics.