Synthesis of oxide and non-oxide inorganic materials at organic surfaces

Outstanding features of biominerals and some key characteristics of biomineralization processes, which inspired socalled biomimetic approaches of materials synthesis, are summarized. Previous results on the deposition of oxide thin films on organic self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) from liquid solutions at temperatures below 100°C are reviewed. Because of deleterious effects of basic solutions on the structural order and adhesion of siloxy-anchored SAMs, the present technique is best suited to oxides of cations that can be precipitated in acidic aqueous solutions. This conclusion is supported by the results on films containing Zn²⁺. Compact thin films of ZnO could be synthesized under basic conditions, but the films showed less complete coverage and adherence than previously reported films (e.g. TiO₂, ZrO₂, Y₂O₃, etc.) that were formed from acidic solutions. First attempts to use SAMs in the synthesis of Si-C-N ceramic films (silicon-dicarbodiimide) are described.