The demand for valuable metals such as rare earth elements and platinum group metals is rising fast in the context of the depletion of natural resources and international conflicts. Moreover, the future circular economy requires that raw material be recycled from waste by advanced methods such as adsorption by innovative porous materials. Here, we review the recovery of metals using porous materials with focus on adsorbent properties, factors governing the performance, and adsorption mechanisms. Porous materials include carbon-based, oxygen-containing, organic polymer-based, nanoparticle-based, ionic liquid-based, and composite material-based adsorbents. Both soft and hard templating methods yield mesoporous porous materials, yet enhanced metal recovery is achieved by cross-linking and metal-doping to improve electrostatic interaction and complexation. Compared to other porous materials, metal–organic and covalent organic frameworks are effective for metal recovery under a wide range of operating conditions, e.g., pH, but the pollution of effluents should be prevented. The major adsorption mechanisms are understood, but mechanisms of spatial nanoconfinement are poorly known.

在自然资源枯竭和国际冲突的背景下，对稀土元素和铂族金属等有价金属的需求正在快速上升。此外，未来的循环经济要求通过创新的多孔材料吸附等先进方法从废物中回收原材料。在这里，我们回顾了使用多孔材料回收金属的方法，重点是吸附剂特性、控制性能的因素和吸附机制。多孔材料包括碳基、含氧、有机聚合物基、纳米颗粒基、离子液体基和复合材料基吸附剂。软模板和硬模板方法都产生介孔多孔材料，然而，通过交联和金属掺杂提高了金属回收率，以改善静电相互作用和络合。与其他多孔材料相比，金属有机骨架和共价有机骨架在广泛的操作条件下（例如 pH 值）对金属回收是有效的，但应防止流出物的污染。主要的吸附机制已被了解，但空间纳米限制的机制却鲜为人知。