Brillouin spectroscopy on dried sonogels

Abstract

The elastic properties of organically modified silicates prepared by ultrasonics aided polycondensation of Tetraethoxysilane and Polidimethylsiloxane is studied by means of high resolution Brillouin spectroscopy. Our results evidence the microseparation of the organic and inorganic phases for the systems with high content of polymer. We propose a mechanical model that qualitatively explains the observed variation of the elastic constant c11 vs molar fraction of dimethylsiloxane in these vitreous materials and develop a structural model that accounts for the observed dynamical behavior.