An apparatus including a fine-array porous material with a specific surface area higher than 10/mm, the specific surface area depending on different pore sizes, wherein the porous material comprises a plurality of pores having a substantially uniform size with a variation of less than about 20%, wherein the size is larger than about 100 nm and smaller than about 10 cm. The high-buoyancy apparatus can be part of a water vehicle such as a boat or a submarine, and the fine-array porous material is configured to reduce friction and/or control buoyancy. A conduit is also provided employing a fine-array porous material to reduce friction and/or control buoyancy. A garment is provided taking advantage of water repellant and/or UV/IR reflection properties of the fine-array porous material.