Mesoporous thin films: properties and applications

In this review we present a short overview of the main fields of application of mesoporous ordered films obtained via templating self-assembly. These materials, because of their very special properties such as high surface area, ordered porosity, versatile functionalization of the pore surface, have been widely used for developing advanced functional applications. Mesoporous ordered films have also shown a high capability of integration in current material processing technologies also taking advantage of the high flexibility of the synthesis. A surprisingly large variety of devices and applications have been developed so far which ranges from sensors to supercapacitors and biodevices. All these applications have in common the exploitation of ordered porosity on the mesoscale and in general a strong dependence on pore topology, the nature of the pore surface and pore accessibility has been demonstrated for most of the cases. Even if a high number of examples of applications have been reported still many more are expected to come in the near future.