Nanoporous Inorganic SolidsA porous inorganic material is one that has no pores or voids throughout. Voids show a repetition of translation in 3D space, whereas no regularity is necessary for a material to be called "porous". A typical and relatively simple porous system is a type of dispersion classically described in colloid science, namely foam or, better, solid foam (M. Jaroniec, 2002). Correlated with this, the most common way to view a porous material is to think of it as one whose gas-solid interfaces are the most dominant feature. This already indicates that the classical science of colloids and interfaces is the creation of interfaces due to nucleation phenomena. The decrease in interface energy and the stabilization of interfaces are of fundamental importance in the process of formation of nanoporous materials. These factors are often omitted because the end products are stable. Indeed, they are simply metastable. This metastability is due to the rigid nature of the network surrounding the void, which is covalently cross-linked in most cases. However, it should be noted that most porous materials reported in the literature or those of great technical importance are not stable by thermodynamic means (F. Rodríguez-Reinoso, 2002). As soon as the limits of kinetic energy are exceeded, materials begin to decompose. An example should make this clear. Porous silica, for example, is simply metastable. As soon as the temperature increases and the melting point is reached, the primary particles in the network begin to fuse and phase separation occurs into a non-porous silica phase. Finally, at very high temperatures, the stable thermodynamic phase of quartz SiO2 emerges. Interface energy control and me... middle of paper ......properties cent. This review attempts to specify nanoporous materials according to these criteria. There might be even more criteria, like pore shape, etc., which are not explicitly considered in this article. In conclusion, nanoporous inorganic chemistry is an important topic that scientists and everyone should consider. Bréchignac, PH (2008). Nanomaterials and nanochemistry. New York: Springer.F. Rodriguez-Reinoso, B.M. (2002). Characterization of porous solids VI: Proceedings of the 6th International Symposium on Characterization of Porous Solids. London: Elsevier.M. Jaroniec, A.S. (2002). Nanoporous materials III. London: Elsevier. T. J. Pinnavaia, M. J. (2000). Nanoporous materials II. London: Elsevier. Yang, P. (2003). The chemistry of nanostructured materials. Chicago: Scientific World.