POROUS INORGANIC MATERIALS

The field of porous, inorganic materials is experiencing explosive gro wth, as is shown by more than 6000 literature citations since 1994 alo ng with numerous recent symposia and workshops that have been devoted to this topic. Much of the recent interest has been fueled by new synt hetic strategies, such as 'supramolecular templating: that have enable d precise engineering of pore size, shape, and connectivity on the mes oscopic scale. In general, template-based approaches involving the coo perative organization of organic-inorganic assemblies as intermediates are emerging as a promising conceptual basis for future developments in the field oi porous inorganic materials, such as the synthesis oi h ierarchical morphologies that mimic the intricate structures found so often in nature.