Modern Inorganic Aerogels

Essentially, the term aerogel describes a special geometric structure of matter. It is neither limited to any material nor to any synthesis procedure. Hence, the possible variety of materials and therefore the multitude of their applications are almost unbounded. In fact, the same applies for nanoparticles. These are also just defined by their geometrical properties. In the past few decades nano-sized materials have been intensively studied and possible applications appeared in nearly all areas of natural sciences. To date a large variety of metal, semiconductor, oxide, and other nanoparticles are available from colloidal synthesis. However, for many applications of these materials an assembly into macroscopic structures is needed. Here we present a comprehensive picture of the developments that enabled the fusion of the colloidal nanoparticle and the aerogel world. This became possible by the controlled destabilization of pre-formed nanoparticles, which leads to their assembly into three-dimensional macroscopic networks. This revolutionary approach makes it possible to use precisely controlled nanoparticles as building blocks for macroscopic porous structures with programmable properties.