MS4623: Porous Materials for Industrial and Sustainable Tech 

Academic Units3
Semester1
Pre-requisite(s)MS2012, MS2013, MS3011
Co-requisite(s)NIL

Course Instructors

Course AIMS

This course aims to help you understand how porous materials (e.g., zeolites, mesoporous silica, activated carbons, membranes, metal–organic frameworks, and related systems) are designed, synthesized, and used in industrial and environmental applications. You will learn how the structure and chemistry of these materials govern their properties and performance in catalysis, separations, adsorption, and emerging technologies such as carbon capture and sequestration, pollutant removal, and resource recovery. This course is intended for senior undergraduate students who wish to strengthen their understanding of functional materials and their real world relevance. You will discuss specific industrial case studies and gain hands-on experience in using real datasets to link structure, properties, and functions to material performance. The course aims to expand your knowledge and skills in relating fundamental materials science to real-world challenges and to help you identify career opportunities in sectors such as energy conversion and storage, environmental technology, chemical processing, water treatment, semiconductor manufacturing, and advanced materials industries.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Upon the successful completion of this course, you (student) would be able to:
  1. Classify major classes of porous materials used in major industrial application and environmental technologies. 
  2. Describe and compare synthesis and processing routes for different porous materials to tune their structural and textural properties and resulting performance.
  3. Analyze structure-property relationships and evaluate the suitability of porous materials for specific applications.
  4. Gain experience in using data analytics to explore structure-property-function relationships and recognize opportunities for porous materials to address global and societal challenges.

Course Content

1. Introduction to Porous Materials:
a. Fundamentals of porosity, including classification into microporous, mesoporous, and macroporous regimes, and the concept of hierarchical pore structures.
b. Overview of structure–property–function relationships and their significance in industrial and environmental applications.
2. Zeolites and Industrial Aluminosilicates:
a. Synthesis methods, framework structures, compositions, and catalytic mechanisms of zeolites and related aluminosilicates.
b. Industrial applications in petrochemical catalysis, gas puri cation, ion exchange, and molecular sieving.

3. Mesoporous Silica, Oxides, and Carbon:
a. Preparation techniques, activation processes, and surface functionalization of mesoporous materials (e.g., MCM-41, SBA-15, mesoporous alumina, and activated carbons).
b. Applications in adsorption, energy storage, environmental remediation, and catalytic supports.

4. Polymeric and Ceramic Membrane Materials:
a. Definition and characterization of membrane porosity (micro-, ultra-, and nanofilltration); fabrication techniques such as phase inversion, sintering, and surface coating.
b. Principles of fluid transport in porous media, and their use in industrial separation and puri cation processes (e.g., desalination, mineral recovery, and gas separation).

5. Reticular Chemistry of Emerging Framework Materials:
a. Design and synthesis of metal organic frameworks (MOFs), covalent organic frameworks (COFs), and porous polymers, focusing on coordination chemistry and tunable pore architectures.
b. Structure–stability–function relations, post-synthetic modification, scale-up and integration in practical systems.

6. Case Study Examples:
a. Block copolymer membranes for ultrafiltration and nanofiltration in water purification.
b. MOF-derived single-atom catalysts for hydrogenation and carbon dioxide reduction.
c. Mesoporous oxides in photocatalytic water splitting and hybrid solar cell devices.
d. Additive manufacturing of porous materials for tissue engineering, and organ-on-chip devices.

7. Hands-on Experience in Data Analytics for Porous Materials Design

Reading and References

The listing below comprises the foundational readings for the course, and more up-to-date, relevant readings will be provided when they become available.

  1. Zhou, H.-C., Kitagawa, S., & Ferey, G. (Eds.). (2012). Hierarchically Structured Porous Materials: From Nanoscience to Catalysis, Separa on, Op cs, Energy, and Life Science. Elsevier.
  2. Rouquerol, J., Rouquerol, F., Llewellyn, P., Maurin, G., & Sing, K. S. W. (2014). Adsorption by Powders and Porous Solids: Principles, Methodology and Applications (2nd ed.). Academic Press.
  3. Schüth, F., Sing, K. S. W., & Weitkamp, J. (Eds.). (2002). Handbook of Porous Solids. Wiley-VCH.
  4. Čejka, J., Corma, A., & Zones, S. (Eds.). (2010). Zeolites and Catalysis: Synthesis, Reactions and Applications. Wiley-VCH.
  5. Zhao, D., Wan, Y., & Zhou, W. (2013). Ordered Mesoporous Materials. Wiley-VCH.
  6. Baker, R. W. (2012). Membrane Technology and Applica ons (3rd ed.). Wiley.
  7. Yaghi, O. M., Kalmutzki, M. J., & Diercks, C. S. (2019). Introduc on to Re cular Chemistry: Metal–Organic Frameworks and Covalent Organic Frameworks. Wiley-VCH.