Recent advances in hybrid periodic mesostructured organosilica materials: opportunities from fundamental to biomedical applications

Surfactant-mediated periodic mesoporous organosilicas (PMOs) with different organic and inorganic functions in the framework structure were discovered in 1999. The silica inorganic function gives a strong mechanical stability to the framework structure and the organic functionality creates more structural flexibility. As a result, their use is optimal for a large number of applications including catalysis, microelectronics, chromatographic supports, selective adsorbents, sensors, protein folding, biomedical devices and light-harvesting devices. These new materials showed also superior stability when compared to pure mesoporous silica (PMS) framework structures. Based on the recent discoveries, since 2012, this review mostly provides a comprehensive overview of their multidisciplinary options for various applications.