LAUSR

Polymer‐assisted sol‐gel synthesis—otherwise known as the organic steric entrapment (OSE) method—was first demonstrated in 1992 as a viable method to produce metal‐oxide ceramics. Earlier, in 1931, conventional (ie, nonpolymer‐assisted) sol‐gel synthesis methods were used to produce ceramics using alkoxysilanes.1,2 The primary aim of sol‐gel synthesis is to produce solid ceramics from a solution of liquid metal precursors via hydrolysis and subsequent polycondensation into a gel.3 By forming gels in a solution state, sol‐gel synthesis methods ensure atomic‐level mixing, thereby circumventing challenges Received: 24 February 2019 | Revised: 20 June 2019 | Accepted: 29 July 2019 DOI: 10.1111/jace.16764