MORPHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT IN PDMS TEOS HYBRID MATERIALS/

PDMS was used as an additive to TEOS based gels in order to improve ma croscopic properties for applications such as thermal insulators. The morphological features developed in the PDMS/TEOS hybrid materials wer e studied by small-angle x-ray scattering and small-angle light scatte ring. The thermal properties of the material are controlled by nanosca le morphology. A main feature in the nano-scale is mass-fractal domain s. As PDMS is incorporated into the TEOS system, a macroscopic network structure becomes dominant, and toughness is enhanced. A monolithic s tructure is observed macroscopically. The results indicate that PDMS c an be used to develop micron morphologies for toughening these materia ls. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.