Recent progress in hybrid materials science

Abstract

This themed issue of Chemical Society Reviews reviews recent progress made in hybrid materials science. Guest editors Clément Sanchez, Susumu Kitagawa and Ken Shea introduce the issue and the academic and industrial importance of the field.

In the 21st century, the nano-sciences will be an important contributor to scientific and technological developments. These developments will take place within a strong current of scientific and social impetus for harmony between nature and human ingenuity. In this vein, materials and systems created by humans must become increasingly sophisticated, miniaturized, recyclable, environmentally friendly, energy efficient, reliable, and inexpensive. At the beginning of this new era, a bottom up molecular and supramolecular approach to assemble materials, polymers and nano-sized objects achieved a high level of sophistication. Emergence of the hybrid materials community has been an integral part of this advanced materials movement and its continued growth seems assured due to a number of factors. Foremost is the inexhaustible abundance of hybrid structures with a near infinite continuum of properties to counter the economic and technical limitations that always crop up in current technology. At the same time, predictive approaches to guide the use of our knowledge of the materials landscape will become more accessible. This will allow predictive approaches to molecular engineering and facilitate materials development.

A redefinition of learning to overcome the current dichotomies between Chemistry, Biology and Physics and provide a basic platform for a truly multidisciplinary field is expected to enrich the biomimetic and integrative strategies available to “soft chemistry” or “chimie douce”.

Achieving nanostructured or hierarchical hybrid architectures involves cross-cutting synthetic strategies where all facets of chemistry (organic, polymer, solid-state, physical, material, and biological), soft matter and processing are synergistically coupled. These cross-cutting approaches are often bio-inspired and are made possible by the integration of diverse expertise that allows the development of complex systems of various shapes and sizes with perfect mastery of composition, porosity, functionality, and morphology. These strategies coined “Integrative Chemistry” open opportunities for creating advanced hybrid materials with organic–inorganic or bio–inorganic character. This new field of basic research provides chemists with opportunities for creative expression, and the remarkable new properties and multifunctional nature of these hybrid materials will stimulate the emergence of innovative industrial applications in a diverse range of technologically important fields. These hybrid materials may be used directly as innovative advanced materials or as precursors to novel inorganic solids, providing promising applications in optics, electronics, ionics, mechanics, membranes, functional and protective coatings, catalysis, sensors and biology. This themed issue contains many selected tutorial and critical reviews, highlighting exciting new achievements in hybrid chemistry and associated aspects of materials science.

This issue covers numerous aspects of hybrid materials science such as:

• Hybrid materials synthesis strategies including:

Molecular chemistry approaches to hybrid nanomaterials, design and elaboration of colloidal clusters, ionic liquid based hybrid materials, titanium oxo-clusters: precursors for a Lego-like construction of hybrids, self-assembly of inorganic nanorods, hybrid coordination polymers and post-synthetic modification of metal–organic frameworks, a discussion on block copolymer templating, the control of pore formation in organotrialkoxysilane based hybrid aerogels, molecular versus block-assembling bottom-up processes, and finally a review on molecular and supramolecular dynamics of hybrid organic–inorganic interfaces for the rational construction of advanced hybrid nanomaterials.

• Biohybrids and related materials including:

Hybrid and biohybrid silicate based materials, a discussion from diatoms to silica-based biohybrids, medical applications of organic–inorganic hybrid materials within the field of silica-based bioceramics, a review on whole-cell based hybrid materials for green energy production, environmental remediation and smart cell-therapy.

• Properties and real applications of hybrid materials including:

Applications of advanced hybrid organic–inorganic nanomaterials: from laboratory to market, photochromic, luminescent and photonic properties, optical chemical sensors based on hybrid materials, multifunctional luminescent lanthanides-based metal–organic frameworks and the progress made on lanthanide-based organic–inorganic hybrid phosphors and their perspectives are also presented.

Magnetic inorganic–organic hybrid nanomaterials with different dimensionalities and multifunctionalities are also reviewed. Last but not least, energy and environmental impacts of hybrids will be illustrated through a few reviews that will discuss the impact of hybrid materials for energy conversion and storage, for the design of functional hybrid membranes for fuel cells and finally via a discussion on the reasons for greenhouse gases capture by hybrid porous solids.

 

This timely issue will form an important valuable reference for future work in this area and will stimulate the exchange of ideas among different research communities. We encourage colleagues interested by this expanding field of research to also consult themed issues of other journals and books that have been devoted to hybrid bio–inorganic and organic–inorganic materials.^1–11

Finally, we would like to acknowledge the authors of this themed issue, we are grateful for their efforts in comprehensively presenting their current knowledge of state of the art developments and perspectives of functional hybrid materials. Furthermore the judgment provided by our reviewers has been extremely valuable in ensuring the high scientific impact required for publication in Chem Soc Rev.

Additionally, we wish to thank Robert Eagling and other staff members of the Royal Society of Chemistry for their confidence and kind assistance, and for their dedication and devotion to this themed issue that highlights the Recent Progress and Perspectives in Hybrid Materials Sciences, and describes the controlled design, synthesis, processing, properties and final applications of Hybrid Materials.

References

1. C. Sanchez and F. Ribot, New J. Chem., 1994, 18, 1007.
2. Special issue on Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Materials, New J. Chem., Guest editors C. Sanchez and F. Ribot, 1994, vol. 18, issue 10.
3. Functional Hybrid Materials, ed. P. Gómez Romero and C. Sanchez, Wiley, 2004; see also Matériaux Hybrides, ed. C. Sanchez, Observatoire Français des Technique Avancées, Masson, Paris, France, 1996.
4. Special issue on Organic–Inorganic Materials, MRS Bull., Guest editor D. A. Loy, May 2001, vol. 26, issue 5.
5. Special issue on Nanostructured and Functional Hybrid Organic–Inorganic Materials, Chem. Mater., Guest editors H. Eckert and M. Ward, 2001, vol. 13, issue 10.
6. Themed issue on New Developments in Bio-related Materials, J. Mater. Chem., Guest editors J. Aizenberg, J. Livage and S. Mann, 2004, vol. 14, issue 14.
7. Themed issue on State of the Art Developments in Functional Hybrid Materials, J. Mater. Chem., Guest editor C. Sanchez, 2005, vol. 15, issues 35–36.
8. Hybrid Materials: Strategies, Syntheses, Characterization and Applications, ed. G. Kickelbick, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2007.
9. Bio–inorganic Hybrid Nanomaterials: Strategies, Syntheses, Characterization and Applications, ed. E. Ruiz-Hitzky, K. Ariga and Y. M. Lvov, Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim, 2007.
10. The Supramolecular Chemistry of Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Materials, ed. Knut Rurack and Raman Martinez-Martinez, John Wiley & Sons, Inc, 2010.
11. Themed issue on Advanced Hybrid Materials, J. Mater. Chem., Guest editors P. Rabu and A. Taubert, 2010, vol. 20, issue 42; associated to the E-MRS symposium on Hybrids (Strasbourg, June 2010).

Footnote

† Part of the themed issue on hybrid materials.

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