Function-led design of new porous materials

Porous solids are important as membranes, adsorbents, catalysts, and in other chemical applications. But for these materials to find greater use at an industrial scale, it is necessary to optimize multiple functions in addition to pore structure and surface area, such as stability, sorption kinetics, processability, mechanical properties, and thermal properties. Several different classes of porous solids exist, and there is no one-size-fits-all solution; it can therefore be challenging to choose the right type of porous material for a given job. Computational prediction of structure and properties has growing potential to complement experiment to identify the best porous materials for specific applications.