Polymers of intrinsic microporosity as high temperature templates for the formation of nanofibrous oxides

The highly rigid molecular structure of Polymers of Intrinsic Microporosity (PIM) - associated with a high thermolysis threshold - combined with the possibility to fill intrinsic micropores allows the direct one-step templated conversion of metal nitrates into nanostructured metal oxides. This is demonstrated here with PIM-EA-TB and with PIM-1 for the conversion of Pr(NO3)(3) to Pr6O11.