Organic/inorganic hybrid network materials by the sol-gel approach

Organic/inorganic hybrid materials prepared by the sol-gel approach have rapidly become a fascinating new field of research in materials science. The explosion of activity in this area in the past decade has made tremendous progress in both the fundamental understanding of the sol-gel process and the development and applications of new organic/inorganic hybrid materials. In this review, a brief summary of the research activities in the field of organic/inorganic nanocomposite materials and a general background of the sol-gel chemistry are first given. The emphasis of this report, however, is placed on the synthesis, structure-property response, and potential applications of the organic/inorganic hybrid networks that possess chemical bonding between the organic and inorganic phases, particularly those systems that were developed in our laboratory since 1985.