Mesoporous polymers: soft-template self-assembly synthesis and applications

Mesoporous polymers combine the advantages of polymer materials (abundant polar functional groups, lightweight, flexibility, and processability) and mesoporous structures (high specific surface area, adjustable pore structure, and large pore volume); hence, they have great application potential in sensing, adsorption, catalysis, energy storage, biomedicine, etc. Currently, developing advanced synthetic strategies for mesoporous polymers and investigating their intrinsic applications have become hot research topics. Soft-template-based self-assembly is regarded as a promising approach for synthesizing mesoporous polymers. This work reviews recent progress in the synthetic strategy for producing various mesoporous polymers using soft-template self-assembly, focusing on the synthesis of conductive polymers, phenol-based polymers, and resin-based polymers and their potential applications. Finally, perspectives on future applications of mesoporous polymers, along with a few challenges that need to be resolved, are also discussed in this review.