Mesoporous Thin Films: An Example of Pore Engineered Material

Self-assembly through supramolecular templates is an advanced process for preparing thin films with ordered mesostructure and tuned pore arrays; the overall process is a combination of sol-gel and supramolecular chemistry, while the organization is driven by solvent evaporation. Controlling of the process allows obtaining a nanomaterial whose ordered and open porosity can be exploited for applications in different fields. In the article we give a general overview of self-assembly during thin films deposition from a liquid phase and we present some possible fields of applications.