SiVARA™ Sol-Gel Technology

The SiVARA™ is a Sol-Gel Technology developed over the years by Evonik Degussa GmbH. More than 30 patents protect the revolutionary technology for the making of silica glass out of sol-gel chemistry. The SiVARA™ Sol-Gel Technology is based on a special sol-gel process that facilitates the processing of fine powders such as AEROSIL^®, as well as AERODISP^® dispersions, into compact glass-mold bodies free of cracks.

AEROSIL^®, a fumed silica is the basic raw material of the SiVARA™ process. AEROSIL^® forms, with other components, a colloidal suspension of silica particles known as sol inside the reactor.

That suspension is then poured in the mold where it gels and forms a silica network is then dried. Upon drying, a xerogel is obtained which is then withdrawn from the mold and sent into a furnace. Here, it is subjected to the final stages of chemical purification to obtain a silica product that demonstrates high purity levels, which result in very good optical transparency over a broad electromagnetic spectrum ranging from ultraviolet to infrared light