Zeolites and Mesoporous Materials at the Dawn of the 21st Century

Book excerpt: The Zeolites and Mesporous Materials at the Dawn of the 21st Century Proceedings are the expression of the oral and poster communications which where presented during the 13th International Zeolite Conference (IZC). They are subdivided into 32 thematic sessions starting from the genesis of materials to their applications through their characterisation. The paper volume contains the full texts of the 5 plenary and 6 keynote lectures and informative summaries of 150 oral and 540 poster presentations. These contributions have been selected among the 903 submissions received from a total of 57 countries! In order to gather all the communications in a handy document, the full texts of oral and poster presentations are available in CD-ROM. Besides the fields of zeolite science always represented at IZC (synthesis, characterisation, catalysis, etc¿), some subjects strengthened their position (mesoporous materials, theory and modelling), new areas emerge (advanced materials, environmental and life sciences) and older ones regain interest (natural zeolites). The understanding and development of the unique properties of porous materials relies on a unique blend of multidisciplinary knowledge: material science, with the implication of organic and colloid chemistry, to prepare micro- and mesoporous materials, surface and adsorption science sustained by theory and modelling to understand the peculiar behaviour of molecules in confined systems, special branches of catalysis, physics, chemical engineering and life science to design novel applications. The gathering of these elements is at the basis of a fruitful and evolutionary zeolite science, as it is hopefully reflected by these proceedings.