Perspectives of micro/mesoporous composites in catalysis

This article covers the recent development in the remarkably growing field of synthesis, characterization and particularly catalytic investigation of zeolite-based materials combining micro- and mesoporous features. New synthetic approaches for preparation of micro/mesoporous composites including recrystallization of originally amorphous matter, utilization of nanocrystalline zeolite seeds and formation of mesoporous zeolite single crystals are the first focus of this article. The advantages and disadvantages of composite materials in comparison with pure micro- and mesoporous molecular sieves will be discussed, as well. The relevance of individual experimental techniques for analysis of the composites, i. e., their structure, porosity, chemical composition, morphological features, and so on, are described in the second section of the article. The last Section is focused on the application of micro/mesoporous composites and mesoporous zeolites as catalysts in acid-catalyzed reactions, oxidation reactions and synthesis of fine chemicals. The potential of the composites in challenging areas of catalysis for future applications is the final objective of the review.