Patent ID: 6270846
Filing Date: 2001-08-07
Classification: B01F,C03C,Y10T

Abstract:
An evaporation-induced self-assembly method to prepare a high-porosity, surfactant-templated thin film, comprising:mixing a precursor sol, a solvent, water, a surfactant, and a hydrophobic polymer, wherein said hydrophobic polymer is soluble in said sol, and wherein said surfactant is at a concentration less than the critical micelle concentration, to form a homogeneous mixture;coating a substrate with said homogeneous mixture to form a thin film, said coating inducing evaporation of a portion of the solvent to produce a surfactant-stabilized microemulsion dispersed within a hybrid surfactant-silica matrix; andheating said thin film to form a high-porosity, surfactant- and microemulsion-templated thin film with a porosity greater than approximately 50 percent.