Spinnability and Rheological Properties of Sols Derived from Si(OC₂H₅)₄ and Zr(O-nC₃H₇)₄ Solutions

The shape of the polymers in the mixed alkoxide solutions of Si(OC2H5)4 and Zr(n-OC3H7)4 with various water contents (1, 2, 4, and 8 in molar ratio to alkoxide, r) and catalysts was examined by rheological measurements, and its relation with fiber drawing behavior of the solutions was described. It was found that fibers could be drawn in the viscosity range 1~100 P from the acid-catalyzed solutions with lower water contents of the molar ratio H2O/alkoxide, $r{\leq}2$. On the other hand, no fiber could be drawn from the acid-catalyzed solutions including a large amount of water($r{\geq}4$) and the base-catalyzed solutions. The relation between the intrinsic viscosity [${\eta}$] and number average molecular weight ${\bar{M}}n$, namely $[{\eta}]=K{\bar{M}}n{\alpha}$, has shown that the acid-catalyzed spinnable solution (r = 1 and 2) had linear polymers where the exponent a's were about 0.56 and 0.81, whereas non-spinnable solutions (r = 4 and 8) had three dimensional network polymers or spherical particles where the exponent a's were 0.41-0.51 and 0.35.