Hybrid organic-inorganic materials offer a wide range of interesting applications especially in optics. Chemistry plays a major role in the elaboration and comprehension of such materials. Sol-gel process provide a method to blend, down to the molecular scale, organic and inorganic components. Examples of hybrid organic-inorganic materials for optics and optical characterizations of hybrid mate...

We present the design and development of hybrid organic – inorganic materials with improved electrochemical performance to be used in energy storage applications (e.g. supercapacitors). The systematic study carried out shows various carbon–based materials (e.g. activated carbons, graphene based materials) working as active substrates where the anchoring of inorganic species takes place (i.e. po...

Entropy is one of the fundamental quantities which links emerging research areas like flexibility and defect engineering in inorganic-organic hybrid materials. Additionally, a delicate balance between entropy and enthalpy can lead to intriguing temperature-driven transitions in such materials. Here, we briefly overview traditional material design principles, highlight the role of entropy in the...

High performance functional coatings, based on hybrid organic/inorganic materials, are being developed to combine the polymer flexibility and ease of processing with the mechanical properties and versatility of inorganic materials. By incorporating silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) in the polymeric matrices, it is possible to obtain hybrid polymer films with increased tensile strength and impact res...

Catalyst selectivity is associated with well-defined homogeneous active sites. Transition metal complexes and organocatalysts are highly active and selective in the homogeneous phase, and their heterogenization by incorporating them into inorganic solid materials allows combining their excellent catalytic activity with improved separation, recovering and recycling properties. In this article, w...

This review describes the synthesis and characterization of inorganic materials containing polyoxometalates encapsulated in oxide matrices. Examples illustrating key aspects in terms of synthesis and applications are presented according to the nature of the final hybrid material: those based on non-structured silicas, on mesostructured silicas, on macrostructured silicas and on other oxides. In...

Mesoporous organic-inorganic hybrid materials, a new class of materials characterized by large specific surface areas and pore sizes between 2 and 15 nm, have been obtained through the coupling of inorganic and organic components by template synthesis. The incorporation of functionalities can be achieved in three ways: by subsequent attachment of organic components onto a pure silica matrix (gr...