Prospects for Giant Pores

Crystalline materials with nanometer-sized pores (giant pores) could find many applications--for example, in catalysis and nanotechnology. Aluminosilicate materials with somewhat smaller pores long dominated the field of crystalline porous materials. However, recent advances have led to a wide chemical variety of porous materials and to larger pores. The strategies used to synthesize these materials point the way toward stable materials with giant pores.