NEW APPROACH TO PREPARATION OF GELATINE/SiO2 HYBRID SYSTEMS BY THE SOL-GEL PROCESS

A new method of synthesis of a series of hybrid gelatine/silica systems, based on solgel technique, was developed in this study which was aimed at achieving the maximum compatibility of the gelatine/silica systems prepared in a wide range of gelatine-silica ratios (from 30 to 80 wt. % of gelatine). The systems were characterized by X-ray diffraction, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, and TG techniques. The obtained materials showed a diverse structure due to the fact that a part of silica formed a homogeneous composite with gelatine, while another part formed microspherical particles of complicated structure. A possibility was tested for employing branched polyalkoxysiloxanes as crosslinkers in the preparation of gelatine-silica hybrids