Syntheses and applications of periodic mesoporous organosilica nanoparticles

Periodic Mesoporous Organosilica (PMO) nanomaterials are envisioned to be one of the most prolific subjects of research in the next decade. Similar to mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN), PMO nanoparticles (NPs) prepared from organo-bridged alkoxysilanes have tunable mesopores that could be utilized for many applications such as gas and molecule adsorption, catalysis, drug and gene delivery, electronics, and sensing; but unlike MSN, the diversity in chemical nature of the pore walls of such nanomaterials is theoretically unlimited. Thus, we expect that PMO NPs will attract considerable interest over the next decade. In this review, we will present a comprehensive overview of the synthetic strategies for the preparation of nanoscaled PMO materials, and then describe their applications in catalysis and nanomedicine. The remarkable assets of the PMO structure are also detailed, and insights are provided for the preparation of more complex PMO nanoplatforms.