ABSTRACT
Porous materials have attracted considerable attention since the 1960s because of their wide variety of scientic and technological applications. In its most generalized denition, the term pore means a limited space or cavity in a (at least apparently) continuous material. Porous materials comprise from inorganic compounds such as aluminosilicates to biological membranes and tissues. According to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, pores are classied into three categories: micropores (less than 2 nm), mesopores (between 2 and 50 nm), and macropores (larger than 50 nm).
