Nanoporous materials are well known to be technologically useful for a wide spectrum of applications such as energy storage and conversion in fuel cells, solar cells, Li-ion batteries, hydrogen storage and supercapacitors, catalysis, sorption applications, gas purification, separation technologies, drug delivery, cell biology, environmental remediation, water desalination, purification, separation, sensors, optical, and electronic and magnetic devices. Typical examples of natural and synthetic nanoporous solids are zeolites, activated carbon, metal-organic frameworks, covalent organic frameworks, ceramics, silicates, nonsiliceous materials, aerogels, pillared materials, various polymers, and inorganic porous hybrid materials. However, the applicability of the porous nanomaterials depends on their targeted design at the atomic and molecular level which controls their porosity and surface area. The nanoporous materials can be synthesized in the laboratories using organic or inorganic templates. The self-assembly of organic templates or the existing pore size of the inorganic templates controls the porosity of the final product. In addition, the nanometer-size pores can be utilized to impregnate nanoparticles/proteins/ions to create multifunctional hybrids of practical and scientific interests. Considering the widespread applications of these nanoporous materials, uncovering their recent synthesis approaches, structure-dependent properties and potential applications in various disciplines of science and engineering are necessary and urgent.
