Hypercrosslinked microporous polystyrene: from synthesis to properties to applications

Hypercrosslinked microporous polystyrene (HCMPS) have recently achieved growing attention because of their advantages of diverse preparation methods, easily to be functionalized, large specific surface area, cheap reagents, mild reaction conditions, high chemical and thermal stability, and so on. Reasonable selection of polystyrene precursors, suitable length crosslinkers, and optimal reaction conditions can produce an advanced hypercrosslinked polymers with a controllable porous topology. In this review, we systematically summarize the fundamentals and synthetic strategies of HCMPS materials, outline their recent advances in various applications including gas storage, removal of pollutants, chromatographic separation, supports, and so on, and exhibit their diverse properties including porous structure, physicochemical properties, and positronium annihilation properties. In addition, the state-of-the-art advances, opportunities, challenges, and perspectives of HCMPS materials are also in-depth discussed. It is believed that the advanced HCMPS-based materials can realize diverse applications via unremitting efforts of scientific researchers.