Supramolecular and covalent strategies to control pore size, philicity and surface charge of mesoporous silica

Abstract

Space ? the final frontier , the preface to a well-known television series not only captures the challenges encountered in space travel adventures, but also in the field of porous materials, whose mandates are to control the size, shape and regularity of the porous space and the atoM.S. and molecules that define it. The past few decades have witnessed significant scientific advances in the fabrication of new ordered porous solids from a wide variety of materials. This has broadened the range of applications beyond their conventional use as catalysts/catalytic supports and adsorbents. It is to be noted that the term �ordered� in ordered porous materials, applies to the porosity of the material and does not necessarily imply that the materials have high structural order. These materials most commonly possess amorphous walls which enclose pore spaces which are arrayed in a regular fashion. MCM-41, is one very well-known example of such a material,[1] which in spite of being made up of amorphous silica, exhibits a characteristic X-ray diffraction (XRD) pattern by virtue of its hexagonal array of mesopores.