The macroscopic alignment of mesochannels in films and its control are quite significant for advanced materials with controlled functions. However, the direction of mesochannels in almost all mesoporous/mesostructured films is parallel to the substrate. The films containing vertically oriented mesochannels in uniform direction are of wide prospects due to their huge potential applications including catalysis, adsorption and separation, high-sensitive chemical sensors, solar cells and so forth. Here some important characterization techniques are presented, such as cross-sectional TEM, X-ray diffraction and grazing-incident small-angle X-ray scattering. Simultaneously, various preparation methods of vertically oriented mesoporous thin films in recent years are reviewed including template-based method, using external fields, modification of substrate and other methods. We also briefly summarize its applications in selective membrane, preparation of vertically oriented metal films and electrochromic display devices. In addition, the development of vertically oriented mesoporous thin films in the future is expected.
Contents
1 Introduction
2 Key characterization techniques of vertically oriented mesoporous thin films
2.1 Cross-sectional electron microscope
2.2 X-ray diffraction
2.3 Grazing-incident small-angel X-ray scattering
3 Methods to prepare vertically oriented mesoporous thin films
3.1 Template-based method
3.2 External field
3.3 Modification of substrate
3.4 Other methods
4 Applications of vertically oriented mesoporous thin films
4.1 Selective membrane
4.2 Preparation of vertically oriented metal films as hard template
4.3 Electrochromic display devices
5 Conclusion and outlook