Strategies for the Design and Synthesis of Hybrid Multifunctional Nanoporous Materials

This chapter discusses the design and synthesis of multifunctional active sites in ordered nanoporous materials. First, the formation of homogeneous molecular monolayer structures is described. Hybrid nanoporous materials modified with functional molecules and groups are widely investigated for many applications. The molecular chain conformations depend on the surface roughness of the pore channels. A step-wise growth model has been proposed to account for the step-wise pore dimension change. This paper also discusses the use of supercritical fluids as delivery media to improve the effectiveness of surface functionalization. This technique has been used successfully to synthesize size-exclusive microporous acid catalysts. Finally, the formation of architectured monolayer molecular structures is discussed. The use of imprinting or lithograph techniques allows the synthesis of hierarchical porous materials with tunable size-and-shape selective microporosity.