Emerging Trends in Porogens toward Material Fabrication: Recent Progresses and Challenges

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Chemical Engineering

Background:

• Tailor-made materials require specific properties like porosity, stability, and morphology for applications such as separation, transport, and adsorption.
• Porogens are key additives that significantly influence these material characteristics during fabrication.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide a comprehensive review of porogens and their role in material fabrication.
• To summarize the influence of different porogen types on various substrate materials and fabrication processes.
• To highlight the impact of porogens on material morphology, performance, and applications.

Main Methods:

• Literature review of porogen types (synthetic, natural, mixed).
• Analysis of porogen influence on diverse substrate materials (polymers, ceramics, metals).
• Examination of porogen effects on pore size distribution (macro, micro, nano) and material properties.

Main Results:

• Porogens critically affect material morphology, surface, and cross-section, directly impacting efficiency, stability, and reusability.
• Different porogens exhibit varying efficiencies in organic and inorganic host materials.
• Pore characteristics influenced by porogens are vital for applications in separation, pollutant transport, and stability enhancement.

Conclusions:

• Porogens play a vital role in tailoring material properties for specific applications.
• Further research is needed to address challenges and fully leverage the potential of porogens in advanced material fabrication.
• This review serves as a resource for understanding porogen-mediated material design.