Porous materials: Science and engineering

Advancements in the field of materials research, specifically porous materials, have facilitated their use in a variety of applications such as catalysts, adsorbents, membranes, sensors, optical devices, drug carriers and insulators. Porous materials such as carbon nanotubes are used for drug delivery, while microporous organic-layered double hydroxide nanocomposites are proposed for gene and drug therapy. The advent of hydrophilic mesoporous materials has also triggered a vast amount of research in anticipation of several significant applications. Periodic mesoporous silicas (PMOs) are gaining significant interest as these groups decorate channel surfaces giving hydrophobic property to the channels, and can be utilized to functionalize organic molecules and biological receptors for sensing and optoelectronic devices. Macroporous materials such as aerogels, which have been demonstrated to have extremely low thermal conductivity, are proving their suitability for insulation.