Reporters in the nanoworld: diffusion of single molecules in mesoporous materials

Mesoporous materials have a high potential for a number of different applications in Materials Science such as in molecular sieving, as masks for the formation of nanometre-sized metallic wires, as novel drug-delivery systems or as advanced host systems for catalysis. For many of these applications a thorough understanding of the interaction of guest molecules within the host matrix is required. In this tutorial review, we cover recent single-molecule experiments that allow the investigation of host-guest dynamics with unprecedented detail. We will show how molecules diffusing in samples with (almost) perfect domain ordering still show a large heterogeneity in their mobility and interaction with the host. With the presented methodology it is now possible to dramatically improve our understanding of host-guest interactions and in return develop new nano-structured mesoporous materials with properties optimised for a certain application.