Families of dendritic architectures were characterized with the goal of mimicking natural porous structures. The structural and retro-structural analysis combined small and wide angle powder and fiber x-ray diffraction with other experimental techniques. Based on the reconstruction of powder x-ray diffraction amplitudes we developed a general methodology that provides the calculation of various structural parameters of the dendritic structures self-assembled into supramolecular hollow columnar or cubic phases. Applying this methodology we established some general principles that govern the self-assembly mechanism of the dendritic hollow supramolecular structures. Our systematic research provided the tools to master at the Angstrom level the pore size and separation of supramolecular self-assembled hollow dendritic structures, and illustrated some of the advantages of synthetic functional porous materials over the natural ones
