Abstract
Organic polymer-hydrogels are known to be capable of directing the nucleation and growth of inorganic materials, such as silica, metal oxides, apatite or metal chalcogenides. This approach can be exploited in the synthesis of materials that exhibit defined nanoporosity. When the organic polymer-based hydrogel is incorporated in the inorganic product, a composite is formed from which the organic component may be selectively removed, yielding nanopores in the inorganic product. Such porogenic impact resembles the concept of using soft or hard templates for porous materials. This micro-review provides a survey of select examples from the literature.
Highlights
Inorganic materials, with uniform nanopores, play an important role in a large variety of applications, including catalysis [2,3], energy storage [4,5], sensors [6,7], controlled drug release [8,9], biomaterials [10,11], and separation [12,13]
We have recently reported the synthesishydrogels of mesoporous aluminum oxide
Physically or chemically cross-linked hydrogels are frequently used as matrices for for the synthesis of inorganic materials
Summary
With uniform nanopores (pore width ≤ 100 nm [1]), play an important role in a large variety of applications, including catalysis [2,3], energy storage [4,5], sensors [6,7], controlled drug release [8,9], biomaterials [10,11], and separation [12,13]. The ‘soft template’ is incorporated in the inorganic solid during its synthesis under sol-gel-chemical conditions, thereby serving as a pore filler and often as a structure director; it is later removed (by thermal combustion or by ion exchange), yielding uniform nanopores. The ‘soft templating’ approach cannot be regarded as a uniform synthesis method for mesoporous materials; in many cases, the formation of the respective product (such as most metal oxides) goes along with phase-separation and segregation from the amphiphilic species. When the matrix is later removed (e.g., by combustion), it will leave behind a network of mesopores This porogenic impact of the hydrogel may be regarded as an intermediate between ‘soft’ and ‘hard templating’. The general concept of hydrogels serving as matrices for inorganic (though not necessarily porous) phases is known from biomineralization [25] and tissue engineering [26]. This micro-review gives some examples of the concept of using hydrogels as porogenic matrices for the synthesis of inorganic porous materials
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