Methods for the preparation of nanoporous materials have been intensively investigated in recent years with goals that include expanding the scope of materials and improving control over pore size and pore size distributions. Applications for nanoporous materials, whether in thin films, macroscopic pieces, particles, and other geometries, have been found in many emerging technologies, including biological and chemical sensors, catalysis, separations, and drug delivery, batteries, and medical implants. The continued development of efficient and robust methods to prepare these materials and characterize them is essential for advancing these new technologies.

The processes for preparing nanoporous materials range across methods such as colloidal templating, dealloying, self-assembly, and anodization. Characterization methods that are the most common include scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy, surface analysis methods such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and infrared spectroscopy, and pore size analysis. The challenges in this field include the preparation of nanoporous materials in the forms needed for specific applications, reliable control over pore structure and size distribution, and efficient characterization. The development of materials with more complex pore size distributions, such as bimodal distributions with larger pores for flow and smaller pores for surface area enhancement, is a new goal for this field.

Through this Methods Collection, it is hoped that access to procedures for the reliable and reproducible preparation of nanoporous materials and their required characterization will be improved. Since applications of nanoporous materials in diverse fields will also be highlighted in this collection, this collection will provide a comprehensive overview of the current methods for developing nanoporous materials.