Abstract

Sol-gel is a modern technological process that is widely used in production of inorganic sorbents, catalysts and catalyst carriers, synthetic zeolites, inorganic binders, ceramics with select physical, optical, magnetic, and electrical properties, glass, glass ceramics, fibers, etc. The creation of models of this process will make it possible to fine-tune the properties of the resulting materials. The sol-gel transition is a process of sol particle association accompanied by the formation of “an infinite aggregate”. Two ways of constructing mathematical models are suggested. The first approach is based on the methods of statistical thermodynamics, and the second one is hydrodynamical. Both methods make it possible to obtain the inter- consistent equations describing the relationship between the gelation time and the macroscopic parameters. 

Keywords

sol-gel transition, aggregation, coagulation, fractals, fractal dimension, modeling