Purpose-built metal oxide nanomaterials. The emergence of a new generationof smart materials

A new concept has been developed in order to achieve a new generation of sm art materials, namely purpose-built materials, modeled and designed to matc h the physical and structural requirements of their applications. A model b ased on the thermodynamic monitoring of the nucleation, growth, and aging p rocess of metal oxide by minimization of the interfacial tension, yielding to the thermodynamic stabilization of the system, results in well-designed and well-ordered nanostructured materials with the required porosity, morph ology, size, and orientation on various substrates.