Sol-gel thin films with incorporated metal oxide or metal nanoparticles can be prepared by controlled post-synthesis treatment of inorganic gels containing covalently bonded metal complexes. To this end, the precursors for the metal particles and the host phase are tethered by means of an organic group. This results in the homogeneous dispersion of the metal com­pound during sol-gel processing. Nanocomposites are then obtained by thermal, photochemical or chemical post-synthesis treatment of the gels by which the organic tether is removed and/or the metal ions are de-coordinated with concomitant growth of the metal oxide or metal particles. While this method was previously developed for composite powders, the development of composite films required modifications to render the particle-forming step compatible with film properties (e.g., adhesion etc.). Several examples will be demonstrated, such as silica films on glass substrates with homogeneously dispersed Pt, Au or Ag nanoparticles, Ag nanoparticles in the outer shell of multishell inorganic-organic hybrid sub-micron particles, or Ag particles in nanotextured alumina films.

Polymeric films with highly dispersed inorganic clusters as nanosized building blocks were prepared from pre-formed metal oxide/alkoxide clusters of the general formula M_xO_y(OH/OR)_v(carboxylate)_w with unsaturated carboxylate ligands. Polymerization of small proportions of the clusters with organic co-monomers results in hybrid polymers in which the clusters crosslink the polymer chains. The properties of the new hybrid materials originate from a combination of nanofiller and crosslinking effects in addition to the intrinsic properties of the base polymer and the inorganic cluster.

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1. Nanoparticles connected through an ionic linker
2. Ionic liquid entrapped in metallic silver