Synthesis, Structure, and Characterization of Mesoporous Materials

The ordered mesoporous materials (or crystalline mesoporous materials) such as MCM-41 (MCM stands for Mobil composite of matter), MCM-48 and SBA-15 (SBA stands for University of California, Santa Barbara) are a new generation of materials that are different from nonordered (amorphous) mesoporous materials. They are amorphous and not ordered at the atomic level from a classical crystallographic view point, but their regular channels or pores are ordered at the nanometer level. Because of this, these materials have certain characteristics of crystalline solids. Their structural information can be obtained by diffraction methods and other structural analysis techniques. The discovery of periodic mesoporous structures is a major advance in composite organic-inorganic materials synthesis. 

Although studies on the subject of ordered mesoporous materials were started about 15 years ago, the unique structure and the properties of these materials attracted many scientists in different fields of research. Their efforts resulted in fruitful results that have been reported in thousands of publications. The flexibility and complexity of their synthesis and structure, and the extensive application potentials of mesoporous materials, create a huge opportunity for researchers and developmental scientists. This chapter will summarize the research results on mesoporous materials from syntheses, structures, formation mechanisms, compositions, morphologies, pore-size control, modifications, applications, challenges, and so on. 

This chapter reviews the state of study on mesoporous materials based on a literature survey. However, this survey could not cover all aspects because this field is too broad. In the beginning of the reference list for this chapter, we have listed some popular and valuable research papers[1 351 and review articles.136 511 (according to ISI, over 300 and 

Chemistry of Zeolites and Related Porous Material - Synthesis and Structure Ruren Xu, Wenqin Pang, Jihong Yu, Qisheng Huo and Jiesheng Chen 2007 John Wiley Sons, (Asia) Pte Ltd 

200 citations, respectively, the latest update being in November 2006). Please keep in mind that this is not an ISI official learning list and the author does not believe that citation is the best index to evaluate a research paper. 

---

Synthesis, Structure, and Characterization of Mesoporous Materials 561 Co-condensation vs. Grafting... 

---