Crystalline mesoporous metal oxide

Since the discovery of many types of mesoporous silicas, such as SBA-15, KIT-6, FDU-12 and SBA-16, porous crystalline transition metal oxides, such as Cr2O3, Co3O4, In2O3, NiO, CeO2, WO3, Fe2O3 and MnO2, have been synthesized using the mesoporous silicas as hard templates. Several synthetic methods have been developed. These new porous materials have high potential applications in catalysis, Li-ion rechargeable batteries and gas sensors. This article gives a brief review of the research of porous crystals of metal oxides in the last four years. (C) 2008 National Natural Science Foundation of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Limited and Science in China Press. All rights reserved.