Nanoporous polymeric materials are porous materials with pore
sizes in the nanometer range (i.e., below 200 nm), processed as
bulk or film materials, and from a wide set of polymers. Over the
last several years, research and development on these novel materials
have progressed significantly, because it is believed that the
reduction of the pore size to the nanometer range could strongly
influence some of the properties of porous polymers, providing
unexpected and improved properties compared to conventional
porous and microporous polymers and non-porous solids.
In this review, the key properties of these nanoporous polymeric
materials (mechanical, thermal, dielectric, optical, filtration, sensing,
etc.) are analyzed. The experimental and theoretical results
obtained up to date related to the structure–property relations
are presented. In several sections, in order to present a more compressive
approach, the trends obtained for nanoporous polymers
are compared to those for metallic and ceramic nanoporous systems.
Moreover, some specific characteristics of these materials,
such as the consequences of the confinement of both gas and solid
phases, are described. Likewise, the main production methods are
briefly described. Finally, some of the potential applications of
these materials are also discussed in this paper.
