Chitosan has been explored as a potential component of biomaterials and scaffolds for many tissue engineering applications. Hybrid materials, where organic and inorganic networks interpenetrate at the molecular level, have been a particular focus of interest using 3-glycidoxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) as a covalent crosslinker between the networks in a sol–gel process. GPTMS contains both an epoxide ring that can undergo a ring opening reaction with the primary amine of chitosan and a trimethoxysilane group that can co-condense with silica precursors to form a silica network. While many researchers have exploited this ring-opening reaction, it is not yet fully understood and thus the final product is still a matter of some dispute. Here, a detailed study of the reaction of GPTMS with chitosan under different pH conditions was carried out using a combination of solution state and solid state MAS NMR techniques. The reaction of GPTMS with chitosan at the primary amine to form a secondary amine was confirmed and the rate was found to increase at lower pH. However, a side-reaction was identified between GPTMS and water producing a diol species. The relative amounts of diol and chitosan–GPTMS species were 80 and 20% respectively and this ratio did not vary with pH. The functionalisation pH had an effect on the mechanical properties of 65 wt% organic monoliths where the properties of the organic component became more dominant. Scaffolds were fabricated by freeze drying and had pore diameters in excess of 140 μm, and tailorable by altering freezing temperature, which were suitable for tissue engineering applications. In both monoliths and scaffolds, increasing the organic content disrupted the inorganic network, leading to an increase in silica dissolution in SBF. However, the dissolution of silica and chitosan was congruent up to 4 weeks in SBF, illustrating the true hybrid nature resulting from covalent bonding between the networks.

M-type strontium ferrites with substitution of Sr²⁺ by rare-earth La³⁺ were prepared by conventional ceramic technology. The structure, magnetic properties, and magneto-optical Kerr activity of Sr_1−xLa_xFe₁₂O₁₉ (x = 0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) were investigated by x-ray diffraction (XRD), vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM), and magneto-optical ellipsometry, respectively. X-ray diffraction showed that the samples sintered at 1290 °C for 3 h were single M-type hexagonal ferrites. The magnetic properties were remarkably changed due to the valence change of Fe ions induced by the substitution of La ions. Most significantly, an important magneto-optical activity was induced in the La³⁺ substituted M-type strontium ferrites around 3 eV.

Lyophilized YAG gel, synthesized by the coprecipitation technique, has been sintered to transparency by spark plasma sintering method at 1500^∘C. Whereas conventionally dried gels show large agglomerates, over 1 μm, powders from lyophilized gels show no agglomeration with an average particle size below 100 nm. The absence of agglomerates affects on the optical properties of the sintered materials: conventionally dried powders are opaque after sintering, whereas 0.8 mm thick transparent YAG materials with in‐line transmittances close to 60% at 680 nm and over 80% in the infrared range have been obtained for the lyophilized gels.