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PROCESS TO PRODUCE POLYMERIZED MINERAL MATRIX PEARLS |
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Principal Investigator: E. PROUZET
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TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION
The invention describes a process to produce calibrated millimetric spherical pearls with a polymerized mineral matrix and the pearls themselves. The pearl shape and size is provided by dropping a mixture of a mineral matrix precursor (silica, alumina) and an alginate into an alginate gelifying solution. Gelified balls are obtained when drops of this solution fall into a solution of a plurivalent cation. The mineral precursor is then condensed by the sol-gel method. These pearls can be kept in water, dried, or calcined. The alginate gelifying step, provided by the action of plurivalent cations, is also a way to insert metals or oxides into the future inorganic framework.
Process parameters allow fine control of pearl diameters which vary by millimeters.
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