Solid absorbent materials that are useful for absorption of chemical species from a fluid, such as a gas stream or a liquid stream. The absorbent materials are formed by spray processing and posses a well-defined chemical composition and microstructure. The absorbent materials can have a high absorption capacity for a chemical species such as H.sub.2S, CO.sub.2, NO.sub.x, and H.sub.2 and have a high recylability, such that the chemical species can be absorbed and desorbed over a large number of cycles.