Chemical Hieroglyphs: Abstract Depiction of Complex Void Space Topology of Nanoporous Materials

In general, most porous materials are so complex that structural information cannot be easily observed with 3D visualization tools. To address this problem, we have developed a special abstract 2D representation to depict all important topological features and geometrical parameters. Our approach involves reducing these structures based on symmetry and perceived building blocks to a compressed, graph representation that allows for quick structure analysis, classification, and comparison. © 2010 American Chemical Society.