ICN2 Navigates the Hybrid Frontier: A Metareview Enveiling the Diverse, Complex Landscape of Hybrid Materials

by Arlet Lozano Arenas

The Novel Energy-Oriented Materials group led by CSIC Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero has published a metareview that provides a comprehensive and overarching perspective on the diverse field of hybridization and its various applications. Published in 'Chemistry of Materials', this work focuses on the classification of hybrid materials, their composition, and their structures, and presents their multiple applications.

In a recent review titled 'Hybrid Materials: A Metareview', the Novel Energy-Oriented Materials Group, headed by CSIC Prof. Pedro Gómez-Romero, analyzes various reviews and feature articles on hybrid materials. The researchers illustrate hybrid diversity as a complex world through a graphical representation of a tree.

Moreover, intended as an overview of the topic, this research synthesis describes two types of classification. The primary and most common categorization is determined by the interactions between the organic and inorganic components. The second criterion examines which component serves as the predominant matrix and which one is hosted. Additionally, the authors underline the types of hybrids most frequently mentioned in the literature, namely polymers, silica/SiO2, biomaterials, and metals (including “transition metals”).

New applications for the improvement of our lives

A list of nine different applications is provided aimed at narrowing the wide range of applications of hybrids: Optics and Photonics, Biomedical Applications, Catalysis and Electrocatalysis, Energy Storage and Conversion, Sensing, Electronics, Environmental Remediation, Coatings, and Other Applications.

Given the growing number of diverging topics and reviews dealing with hybrid composite materials, the authors believe their complexity should be viewed not as a challenge but as a chance to design and develop new materials with the desired properties. This paper intends to underscore common factors that open pathways for researchers in quest of inspiration and willingness to tackle the challenge of hybrid diversity.

Reference article:

Gomez-Romero, Pedro; Pokhriyal, Anukriti; Rueda-García, Daniel; Bengoa, Leandro N.; & González-Gil, Rosa M. (2024). Hybrid Materials: A Metareview. Chemistry of Materials, 36(1), 8-27. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.chemmater.3c01878