Abstract:Inorganic polymers are a novel class of materials formed by the polymerization of silicon, aluminium and oxygen species to form an amorphous three-dimensional framework structure. The basis of this process is the alkaline solutions to induce a certain amount of Si and Al atoms to dissolve from a feedstock such as aluminosilicate. A study of ²⁷Al MAS-NMR was carried out in an attempt to understand the reaction mechanism of the inorganic polymerization at ambient temperature. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffractometry (XRD) were also employed to establish the composition and microstructure of the inorganic polymerization. Specimens were prepared with different Al/Si mole ratios from the starting materials. The higher the Al content, the more sufficient the Al atoms that can combine with SiO₄, and the longer the reaction time, the more the bonded Si—O—Al—O polymer structure, and then the higher the Al content, the fewer the octahedral Al with a uniform Si—O—Al—O structure in four directions, because four Al atoms are combined with SiO₄, resulting in a uniform Si—O—Al—O structure in four directions. The results show that they have an amorphous microstructure.

Key words: inorganic polymer; amorphous; tetrahedral