Paper on advanced sol-gel materials published in Chemical Reviews

Chemical Reviews, the world’s highest-ranked chemistry journal, has published the article entitled “The Sol-Gel Route to Advanced Silica-Based Materials and Recent Applications” co-authored by Italy’s research chemists Mario Pagliaro and Rosaria Ciriminna, by Portugal`s chemistry professors Laura Ilharco and Alexandra Fidalgo, and by Quebec`s industrial researchers François Béland and Valerica Pandarus.

The paper summarizes recent progress in one of the primary field of contemporary chemical and materials science research, namely that of sol-gel materials which is one of the great untold stories of modern science.

Applications of these materials range from “green” chemical synthesis through controlled release of drugs and fragrances; from nanocomposites for clean energy applications through clean antifouling paints and coatings; and much more.

Offering a forward-looking perspective on sol-gel materials, the article also provides an historic overview of what turned out to be the most fertile field of the new multidisciplinary approach to functional materials called “nanochemistry”.

Today over 2,000 researchers in the world are active in sol-gel science and technology, and many of them will meet early next August in Madrid for the world’s thematic workshop.

Chemical Reviews, the scientific journal with the highest impact factor in chemistry at 41.298, publishes authoritative reviews of important recent research in chemistry.

Rosaria Ciriminna, Alexandra Fidalgo, François Béland, Valerica Pandarus, Laura M. Ilharco, Mario Pagliaro, "The Sol-Gel Route to Advanced Silica-Based Materials and Recent Applications", Chemical Reviews 113 (2013) xx. http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/cr300399c 

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