Zabukovec Logar and Kaučič Nanoporous Materials: From Catalysis.... Review Article Nanoporous Materials: From Catalysis and Hydrogen Storage to Wastewater Treatment

Porous inorganic solids have found great utility as catalysts and sorption media because of their large internal surface area, i.e. the presence of voids of controllable dimensions at the atomic, molecular, and nanometer scales. With increasing environmental concerns worldwide, nanoporous materials have become more important and useful for the separation of polluting species and the recovery of useful ones. Their prospective applications include the use as templates for the production of electrically conducting nanowires and also for highly selective biosensors and biomembrane materials. Inorganic-organic or hybrid nanoporous crystalline materials have recently attracted much attention and increasing interest due to their promising use in gas processing and hydrogen storage. This review covers our recent developments in the synthesis, characterisation and property evaluation of new nanoporous inorganic and some hybrid solids with the emphasis on the silica and phosphate-based frameworks by using hydrothermal and microvawe procedures with X-ray diffraction, spectroscopic (XAS, NMR) and electron microscopy characterisation techniques. The functionalisation of nanoporous materials by physical and/or chemical treatments, studies of their fundamental properties, such as catalytic effects or adsorption and their applications, emphasising (1) catalysis, (2) hydrogen and energy storage, and (3) environmental pollution control are also reviewed