Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 February 2011
A method for producing large TiO2-SiO2 gel-glass monoliths using the sol-gel method has been developed. The gel-glasses are prepared by a pre-hydrolysis method using tetramethylorthosilicate and titanium isopropoxide as precursors. The microhardness, specific surface area and pore radius of the gel-glasses do not change significantly below 600°C. Above 600°C, these properties increase rapidly with densification temperature. At lower TiO2concentration, the glasses obtained by heating to 900°C for 15 hours were not crystallized, while for 15 wt % TiO2 glass, anatase precipitated.