Design of meso-structured titanium oxo based hybrid organic-inorganic networks

Titanium oxo clusters or nanosized Ti-O particles with hydrophobic or hydro philic character can be obtained by varying the sol-gel synthesis condition s. These species are potentially interesting nano-building blocks (NBB) in the design of textured materials. The reactivity of well-defined hydrophobi c NBB towards different nucleophiles has been characterised and discussed, in order to understand the processes taking place in the formation of meso- organised hybrids. Subsequently, different synthesis conditions were used t o generate textured titania-based hybrid phases, using PEO-based surfactant s as templating agents. The tuning of the interactions between the template and the different kinds of nano-building blocks allow worm-like and hexago nal titania-based hybrid phases to be reproducibly obtained.