Preparation and applications of hybrid organic-inorganic monoliths: a review

This review presents an overview of the properties of hybrid organic-inorganic monolithic materials and summarizes the recent developments in the preparation and applications of these hybrid monolithic materials. Hybrid monolithic materials with porosities, surface functionalities, and fast dynamic transport have developed rapidly, and have been used in a wide range of applications owing to the low cost, good stability, and excellent performance. Basically, these materials can be divided into two major types according to the chemical composition: hybrid silica-based monolith (HSM) and hybrid polymer-based monolith (HPM). Compared to the HPM, HSM monolith has been attracting most wide attentions, and it is commonly synthesized by the sol-gel process. The conventional preparation procedures of two type's hybrid organic-inorganic monoliths are addressed. Applications of hybrid organic-inorganic monoliths in optical devices, capillary microextraction (CME), capillary electrochromatography (CEC), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), and chiral separation are also reviewed.