MICROPOROUS and mesoporous inorganic solids (with pore diameters of ≤20 A and ∼20–500 A respectively)1 have found great utility as catalysts and sorption media because of their large internal surface area. Typical microporous materials are the crystalline framework solids, such as zeolites2, but the largest pore dimensions found so far are ∼10–12 A for some metallophosphates3–5 and ∼14 A for the mineral cacoxenite6. Examples of mesoporous solids include silicas7 and modified layered materials8–11, but these are invariably amorphous or paracrystalline, with pores that are irregularly spaced and broadly distributed in size8,12. Pore size can be controlled by intercalation of layered silicates with a surfactant species9,13, but the final product retains, in part, the layered nature of the precursor material. Here we report the synthesis of mesoporous solids from the calcination of aluminosilicate gels in the presence of surfactants. The material14,15 possesses regular arrays of uniform channels, the dimensions of which can be tailored (in the range 16 A to 100 A or more) through the choice of surfactant, auxiliary chemicals and reaction conditions. We propose that the formation of these materials takes place by means of a liquid-crystal 'templating' mechanism, in which the silicate material forms inorganic walls between ordered surfactant micelles.

Ordered mesoporous molecular sieves synthesized by a liquid-crystal template mechanism

The synthesis, characterization, and proposed mechanism of formation of a new family of silicatelaluminosilicate mesoporous molecular sieves designated as M41S is described. MCM-41, one member of this family, exhibits a hexagonal arrangement of uniform mesopores whose dimensions may be engineered in the range of - 15 A to greater than 100 A. Other members of this family, including a material exhibiting cubic symmetry, have ken synthesized. The larger pore M41S materials typically have surface areas above 700 m2/g and hydrocarbon sorption capacities of 0.7 cc/g and greater. A templating mechanism (liquid crystal templating-LCT) in which surfactant liquid crystal structures serve as organic templates is proposed for the formation of these materials. In support of this templating mechanism, it was demonstrated that the structure and pore dimensions of MCM-41 materials are intimately linked to the properties of the surfactant, including surfactant chain length and solution chemistry. The presence of variable pore size MCM-41, cubic material, and other phases indicates that M41S is an extensive family of materials.

http://dns2.asia.edu.tw/~ysho/ysho-english/1000 wc/pdf/j ame che soc114, 10834.pdf

A new family of mesoporous molecular sieves prepared with liquid crystal templates

2.3. Evaluation of Photocatalytic Water Splitting 6507 2.3.1. Photocatalytic Activity 6507 2.3.2. Photocatalytic Stability 6507 3. UV-Active Photocatalysts for Water Splitting 6507 3.1. d0 Metal Oxide Photocatalyts 6507 3.1.1. Ti-, Zr-Based Oxides 6507 3.1.2. Nb-, Ta-Based Oxides 6514 3.1.3. W-, Mo-Based Oxides 6517 3.1.4. Other d0 Metal Oxides 6518 3.2. d10 Metal Oxide Photocatalyts 6518 3.3. f0 Metal Oxide Photocatalysts 6518 3.4. Nonoxide Photocatalysts 6518 4. Approaches to Modifying the Electronic Band Structure for Visible-Light Harvesting 6519

Semiconductor-based Photocatalytic Hydrogen Generation

It is possible to say that zeolites are the most widely used catalysts in industry They are crystalline microporous materials which have become extremely successful as catalysts for oil refining, petrochemistry, and organic synthesis in the production of fine and speciality chemicals, particularly when dealing with molecules having kinetic diameters below 10 A The reason for their success in catalysis is related to the following specific features of these materials:1 (1) They have very high surface area and adsorption capacity (2) The adsorption properties of the zeolites can be controlled, and they can be varied from hydrophobic to hydrophilic type materials (3) Active sites, such as acid sites for instance, can be generated in the framework and their strength and concentration can be tailored for a particular application (4) The sizes of their channels and cavities are in the range typical for many molecules of interest (5-12 A), and the strong electric fields2 existing in those micropores together with an electronic confinement of the guest molecules3 are responsible for a preactivation of the reactants (5) Their intricate channel structure allows the zeolites to present different types of shape selectivity, ie, product, reactant, and transition state, which can be used to direct a given catalytic reaction toward the desired product avoiding undesired side reactions (6) All of these properties of zeolites, which are of paramount importance in catalysis and make them attractive choices for the types of processes listed above, are ultimately dependent on the thermal and hydrothermal stability of these materials In the case of zeolites, they can be activated to produce very stable materials not just resistant to heat and steam but also to chemical attacks Avelino Corma Canos was born in Moncofar, Spain, in 1951 He studied chemistry at the Universidad de Valencia (1967−1973) and received his PhD at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid in 1976 He became director of the Instituto de Tecnologia Quimica (UPV-CSIC) at the Universidad Politecnica de Valencia in 1990 His current research field is zeolites as catalysts, covering aspects of synthesis, characterization and reactivity in acid−base and redox catalysis A Corma has written about 250 articles on these subjects in international journals, three books, and a number of reviews and book chapters He is a member of the Editorial Board of Zeolites, Catalysis Review Science and Engineering, Catalysis Letters, Applied Catalysis, Journal of Molecular Catalysis, Research Trends, CaTTech, and Journal of the Chemical Society, Chemical Communications A Corma is coauthor of 20 patents, five of them being for commercial applications He has been awarded with the Dupont Award on new materials (1995), and the Spanish National Award “Leonardo Torres Quevedo” on Technology Research (1996) 2373 Chem Rev 1997, 97, 2373−2419

From Microporous to Mesoporous Molecular-Sieve Materials and Their Use in Catalysis

This critical review will be of interest to the experts in porous solids (including catalysis), but also solid state chemists and physicists. It presents the state-of-the-art on hybrid porous solids, their advantages, their new routes of synthesis, the structural concepts useful for their ‘design’, aiming at reaching very large pores. Their dynamic properties and the possibility of predicting their structure are described. The large tunability of the pore size leads to unprecedented properties and applications. They concern adsorption of species, storage and delivery and the physical properties of the dense phases. (323 references)

Hybrid porous solids: past, present, future

Crystallography and structure of .alpha.-zirconium bis(monohydrogen orthophosphate) monohydrate

Metal Phosphonate Chemistry

Synthetic α-zirconium phosphate (α-ZrP) layer structures have been prepared via three different approaches. By controlling the concentration of reactants, temperature, pressure, and using a complexing agent, α-ZrP with a wide variation in aspect ratios has been prepared. Synthetic α-ZrP can be easily intercalated by amines and then exfoliated in epoxy to prepare polymer nanocomposites. Nanocomposites that contain exfoliated α-ZrP nanoplatelets with wide variations in aspect ratios can be utilized as model systems to study the structure–property relationship in polymer nanocomposites.

Preparation of α-zirconium phosphate nanoplatelets with wide variations in aspect ratios

Phosphonic acids are more acidic than carboxylic acids. They are non-planar and possess twice the number of protons. These attributes lead to strong hydrogen bond formation that can be utilized in design of crystal-engineered structures and self-assembled supramolecular arrays. Their superior cation complexing ability leads to formation of a vast number of metal complexes and their use in lanthanide and actinide separations. Recent work, largely drawn from the work of the author’s research group, is summarized in this update of the author’s 1996 review [Curr Opin Solid State Mater Sci 1 (1996) 268].

Recent advances in metal phosphonate chemistry II

There is currently a great deal of research activity dealing with the synthesis and characterization of inorganic micro- and mesoporous materials. This activity not only stems from their possible use as sorbents, catalysts, molecular sieves, and related applications but also is due to fascination for their varied forms and novel structures. A somewhat promising but less thoroughly investigated topic is that of organically pillared layered compounds where the pillars are covalently bonded to the layers. These compounds are the cross-linked metal phosphonates of the type Mz+4/z(O3P−R−PO3), where R is an alkyl or aryl group. Because of the great variety of R groups containing different functional groups that can be used, these compounds have great potential utility. That this has not been realized is mainly due to the inability to control the pore sizes. The chemistry of this group of compounds will be reviewed and the prognosis for the future indicated.

Abraham Clearfield

Papers

Crystallography and structure of .alpha.-zirconium bis(monohydrogen orthophosphate) monohydrate

Metal Phosphonate Chemistry

Preparation of α-zirconium phosphate nanoplatelets with wide variations in aspect ratios

Recent advances in metal phosphonate chemistry II

Organically Pillared Micro- and Mesoporous Materials