Emulsion templating presently extends far beyond the original hydrophobic porous polymers that were synthesized within surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil high internal phase emulsions (HIPEs) by using free radical polymerization. This Perspective presents the extraordinary versatility of emulsion templating that has emerged with the growing numbers of HIPE systems, HIPE stabilization strategies, monomers, polymerization chemistries, multicomponent materials, and surface functionalities. Emulsion templating now goes far beyond "porous polymers" by encompassing the encapsulation of aqueous solutions, ionic melts, and organic liquids as well as by encompassing porous carbons and porous inorganics. Herein, we present comprehensive pictures of the state-of-the-art, of the prospective large-scale and niche applications, of the advantages and challenges for industrial scale-up, and of the crucial directions that should be pursued in future work. We demonstrate that it is emulsion templating's considerable and versatile parameter space that offers opportunities for pioneering work, breakthrough innovations, scientific/engineering achievements, and industrial adoption.

Interfacial step growth polymerization within oil-in-water high internal phase emulsions was used to synthesize poly(urethane urea) monoliths, consisting of 90% organic phase change material encapsulated within micrometer-scale capsules, for thermal energy storage and release applications.

Reaction of equimolar quantities of MX (M = Au, Cu, X = Cl; M = Ag, X = OTf) and GaCl(3) in CH(2)Cl(2) with P(4) leads to phosphorus ligating a cationic coinage metal centre. For Cu and Ag, ion-contacted coordination polymers are formed; for Au, an ion-separated complex is observed that features the [Au(η(2)-P(4))(2)](+) cation, which is the first homoleptic Au-P(4) complex to be characterised in the condensed phase.

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