Mechanically Strengthened Aerogels through Multiscale, Multicompositional, and Multidimensional Approaches: A Review.

In recent decades, aerogels have attracted tremendous attention in academia and industry as a class of lightweight and porous multifunctional nanomaterial. Despite their wide application range, the low mechanical durability hinders their processing and handling, particularly in applications requiring complex physical structures. "Mechanically strengthened aerogels" have emerged as a potential solution to address this drawback.

One-Pot Sol-Gel Synthesis of Highly Insulative Hybrid P(AAm-CO-AAc)-Silica Aerogels with Improved Mechanical and Thermal Properties.

Silica aerogels and their derivatives have outstanding thermal properties with exceptional values in the thermal insulation industry. However, their brittle nature restricts their large-scale commercialization. Thus, enhancing their mechanical strength without affecting their thermal insulating properties is essential.