Mesoporous non-siliceous inorganic–organic hybrids: a promising platform for designing multifunctional materials

Abstract

Recent progress in mesoporous materials has been extended to chemically designed non-siliceous inorganic–organic hybrid materials including metal phosphonates, carboxylates and sulfonates. Well-defined mesoporosity, mesophase and micro-/macroscopic morphology can be successfully obtained and effectively adjusted by the judicious control of the synthesis systems. A considerable amount of organic functional groups can be homogeneously integrated in the hybrid framework through facilely employing various organic coupling molecules, exhibiting the pristine functionalities and the potentials of being further modified. This has resulted in multifunctional porous materials with particular and novel properties, and has broadened their application region beyond the traditional use as catalysts and adsorbents, as they can even contribute to the developments in fields ranging from energy storage and conversion to medical diagnosis and therapy.