TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The macropores have a diameter of 0.5-30 mu m. The walls of the macropores are not porous; have several mesopores having a diameter of 2-50 nm or less than 2 nm thus resulting in a bicontinuous porous material with hierarchical pores. The body is a hollow body. The material comprises at least one metal and/or metal oxide, where the metal is selected from component (A). The component (A) is Li, Be, Na, Mg, Al, K, Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Ga, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, Nb, Mo, Tc, Ru, Rh, Pd, Ag, Cd, In, Sn, Sb, Cs, Ba, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, Pm, Sm, Eu, Gd, Tb, Dy, Ho, Er, Tm, Yb, Lu, Hf, Ta, W, Re, Os, Ir, Pt, Au, Tl, Pb, or Bi. The ratio of metal salt to solvent in the composition is 1:10-10:1. The porous template is monolithic or particulate. The porous template comprises a composite of at least one silica, carbon, metal, or metal oxide (preferably silica). The porous template comprises macropores having a diameter of greater than 0.1 mu m in diameter and mesopores having a diameter of 2-30 nm. The metal salt comprises a metal selected from the component (A) (preferably Ni, Co, Mn, Ag, Zn or Sn). Preferred Composition: The composition comprises the metal salt is a neat metal salt or a metal salt hydrate; and solvent; the metal salt which comprises a metal nitrate hydrate or an aqueous metal nitrate.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The solvent is water; is an aqueous alcohol, aqueous polyol, aqueous carboxylic acid, aqueous ester, or aqueous aldehyde. The reducing agent comprises hydrogen gas, alcohol, polyol, carboxylic acid, aldehyde, hydrazine, hydride, ketone, or borane. Preferred Method: The method further involves: removing the porous template; adding an additional metal to the metal and/or metal oxide porous material by electrodeposition, by electroless deposition, or by displacement deposition. In the method, porous template comprises silica and the silica is removed by immersing the porous material from third step in an aqueous hydroxide solution at 25-110 degrees C, in hydrofluoric acid, or in a solution of basic alcohol. EXAMPLE - A concentrated solution comprised Co(NO3)2.6H2O (77.7 g) dissolved in de-ionized water (59 g) was prepared. Silica monoliths containing large pores, 1-5 mu m in diameter, and much smaller pores, 4.5 nm in diameter, were dried under vacuum for 20 minutes and filled with the solution above. Monoliths becamed translucent and excess solution was removed from the outside. Filled monoliths were heated at 150 degrees C for 10 hours and then heated up to 400 degrees C for 4 hours and held at 400 degrees C for 30 hours while flowing 5% H2 in N2. The filling and heating steps were repeated 4 times. The silica was removed by soaking the composite in an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution (3 mol/l water) overnight. This resulted in a free standing, porous cobalt metal monolith. X-ray Diffraction confirmed the presence of cobalt metal. Replication of the small pores was confirmed by nitrogen adsorption measurements where the porosity, before removal of the silica, at 4.5 nm was nearly absent and after silica removal pores larger than 20 nm in diameter remain. The resulting specific surface area of this material was no less than 40 m2/g.