Synthesis of Microporous Materials from Reverse Micelles

I. INTRODUCTION This chapter discusses the research progress that has been made on synthesis of microporous materials from reverse micelles. Although materials synthesis, especially the synthesis of controlled-size nanoparticles from reverse micelles, has been extensively studied, the synthesis of microporous materials with controlled porosity from reverse micelles is a relatively new effort. The synthesis of microporous materials is very sensitive to the reactant composition and hence presents a departure from the commonly practiced precipitation reactions carried out in reverse micelles. As reported here, the influence of the reverse micellar environment on synthesis of microporous materials is found to be quite profound. These effects include control of crystal growth pathways, inability to crystallize open-pore frameworks in certain reverse micelles, morphology control, and seeded crystal growth.