1 Introduction.- 1.1 What are porous materials?.- 1.2 Classification of porous materials.- References.- 2 Powder compacts and green bodies for porous materials.- 2.1 Sintering as a process for producing porous materials.- 2.2 The raw powder.- 2.3 Green bodies.- 2.4 Pore forming agents.- References.- 3 Sintering mechanisms and advanced sintering methods for porous materials.- 3.1 Theory of sintering for porous materials.- 3.2 Conventional sintering processes for producing porous materials.- 3.3 Advanced production methods for porous materials.- References.- 4 Sol-gel processing, designing porosity, pore size and polarity, and shaping processes.- 4.1 Introduction.- 4.2 Factors affecting porosity, pore size and polarity.- 4.3 Xerogels.- 4.4 Aerogels.- References.- 5 Applications of porous materials.- 5.1 Filters.- 5.2 Catalysts.- 5.3 Bioreactors.- 5.4 Cells.- 5.5 Grinding wheels.- 5.6 Gas sensors.- 5.7 Gas separators.- 5.8 Electrodes.- 5.9 Porous metal bearings.- 5.10 Thermal insulators.- 5.11 Capacitors.- 5.12 Impact energy absorbers.- 5.13 Heaters and heat exchangers.- 5.14 Molds.- 5.15 Surgical implants.- References.- 6 Properties and evaluation techniques for porous materials.- 6.1 Density and porosity.- 6.2 Pore size.- 6.3 Specific surface area.- 6.4 Fluid permeability.- 6.5 Mechanical properties.- 6.6 Entropy (surface state of porous materials).- References.- Appedix A: Entropy of porous materials.- References.