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Gels
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Recent Advances in Functionalized Aerogels: Preparation, Modification and Applications
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Recent Advances in Functionalized Aerogels: Preparation, Modification and Applications

A special issue of Gels (ISSN 2310-2861). This special issue belongs to the section "Gel Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 July 2026 | Viewed by 3270

Editor

Dr. Mingyi Chen

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of the Environment and Safety Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Interests: thermal safety and thermal disasters of batteries; thermal management; fire prevention and control
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aerogels represent a revolutionary class of materials with exceptional properties that hold significant promise for advancing sustainability across various domains. This Special Issue, “Recent Advances in Functionalized Aerogels: Preparation, Modification and Applications”, will highlight recent groundbreaking advances in the strategic functionalization of these nanostructured materials, which have unlocked a new echelon of performance and application potential.

Functionalized aerogels are now engineered as high-efficiency adsorbents for environmental remediation (e.g., capturing heavy metals, organic pollutants, and clearing oil spills), as advanced components in energy storage devices (electrodes in supercapacitors and batteries), and as smart catalysts. Furthermore, their biocompatibility has been exploited for biomedical applications, including drug delivery systems, tissue engineering scaffolds, and biosensors.

Overall, despite aerogels’ unique properties and potential applications across various industries. Ongoing advancements in material science and engineering are expected to overcome current limitations, paving the way for broader use of aerogels in commercial and industrial applications. I am pleased to invite you, as a renowned expert in the field, to contribute to this Special Issue and the development of scientific studies on functionalized aerogels.

Dr. Mingyi Chen
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Gels is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2100 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • aerogels
  • environment
  • energy storage
  • smart catalysts
  • drug delivery
  • tissue engineering
  • biosensors

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 78103 KB  
Article
Hydrophilic and Underwater Oleophobic Chitosan/Polyvinyl Alcohol/Cellulose Aerogel for Efficient Oil/Water Emulsion Separation
by Daning Lang, Mengyuan Yan, Ming Shi, Shixue He and Ronglan Wu
Gels 2026, 12(6), 531; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels12060531 - 12 Jun 2026
Viewed by 190
Abstract
Oily wastewater, especially stable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, threatens aquatic ecosystems and is difficult to treat using conventional separation technologies. Herein, a hydrophilic and underwater oleophobic chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/cellulose aerogel (CPCG) was fabricated through a facile one-pot dip-coating strategy. Cellulose aerogel (CG) was prepared [...] Read more.
Oily wastewater, especially stable oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions, threatens aquatic ecosystems and is difficult to treat using conventional separation technologies. Herein, a hydrophilic and underwater oleophobic chitosan/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/cellulose aerogel (CPCG) was fabricated through a facile one-pot dip-coating strategy. Cellulose aerogel (CG) was prepared by low-temperature dissolution, network reinforcement, washing, and freeze-drying, before being coated with a cross-linked CS/PVA layer using glutaraldehyde, followed by NaOH solidification. SEM revealed a honeycomb-like cellulose framework uniformly covered by the CS/PVA coating, which improved the structural integrity of the skeleton. FT-IR and TG analyses supported the successful construction of the coating and the enhanced thermal stability of CPCG. CPCG displayed a high underwater oil contact angle of 153.8°, which remained above 153° after 30 min, indicating robust underwater oil repellency. Wet CPCG retained 99% of its original height after 30 compression–recovery cycles. Owing to the stable hydration layer, interconnected channels, and improved wet-state resilience, CPCG efficiently separated light and heavy oil/water mixtures and various O/W emulsions. The separation efficiencies for different emulsions were above 99%, and CPCG retained about 93% efficiency after ten cyclohexane/water emulsion separation cycles. This work provides a green and scalable route for constructing biomass-based aerogels for oily wastewater treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Functionalized Aerogels: Preparation, Modification and Applications)
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18 pages, 52814 KB  
Article
Kaolin-Assisted Construction of Superhydrophobic Cellulose Aerogels for Recyclable Oil/Water Separation
by Shixue He, Weilong Fei, Ming Shi, Zaijiong Chang, Daning Lang and Ronglan Wu
Gels 2026, 12(6), 529; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels12060529 - 12 Jun 2026
Viewed by 220
Abstract
In recent years, oil spill accidents and oily wastewater discharge have posed severe threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Developing green, low-cost, efficient, and recyclable oil–water separation materials is therefore important for environmental remediation. In this work, kaolin/cellulose composite aerogels were fabricated [...] Read more.
In recent years, oil spill accidents and oily wastewater discharge have posed severe threats to aquatic ecosystems and human health. Developing green, low-cost, efficient, and recyclable oil–water separation materials is therefore important for environmental remediation. In this work, kaolin/cellulose composite aerogels were fabricated through a low-temperature NaOH/urea dissolution system using N,N′-Methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as the cross-linking agent, followed by freeze-drying and hydrophobic modification with Methyltrimethoxysilane (MTMS). The structure, morphology, thermal stability, wettability, mechanical behavior, oil adsorption capacity, and reusability of the aerogels were systematically investigated. The composite aerogels exhibited a honeycomb-like interconnected porous structure with low density and high porosity. Kaolin acted as an inorganic reinforcing and roughness-regulating component, which promoted the formation and anchoring of an MTMS-derived siloxane/SiO2-like hydrophobic layer on the aerogel surface. The modified aerogels showed superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle above 152° and excellent oleophilicity. The optimized SC3K0.5 aerogel delivered adsorption capacities of 13.5 g/g for pump oil and 12.5 g/g for diesel. After 10 adsorption–desorption cycles, the adsorption capacity remained above 90% of the initial value, indicating good recyclability and mechanical stability. This recyclable kaolin/cellulose aerogel provides a feasible strategy for practical oil–water separation and oily wastewater treatment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Functionalized Aerogels: Preparation, Modification and Applications)
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17 pages, 10866 KB  
Article
Carbonized Composites Containing Silica Aerogels with Enhanced Hydrophobicity and Thermal Insulation via Glass Fiber and Hollow Microsphere Reinforcement
by Yuquan Cao, Ruliang Li, Zikang Chen, Miao Liu, Yumin Duan, Shuai Li and Zhi Li
Gels 2026, 12(5), 439; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels12050439 - 17 May 2026
Viewed by 339
Abstract
Facing the increasingly severe energy challenges and environmental problems, the development of thermally stable, lightweight, and thermal insulating materials is critical. Herein, we report an organic-inorganic composite strategy combined with a high-temperature carbonization step to fabricate aerogel-containing composites synergistically reinforced with chopped glass [...] Read more.
Facing the increasingly severe energy challenges and environmental problems, the development of thermally stable, lightweight, and thermal insulating materials is critical. Herein, we report an organic-inorganic composite strategy combined with a high-temperature carbonization step to fabricate aerogel-containing composites synergistically reinforced with chopped glass fibers and hollow glass microspheres. By systematically varying the ratio of acrylic emulsion to potassium silicate solution, we investigated the effects on the forming behavior, microstructure, hydrophobicity, thermal stability, and thermal insulation performance. Increasing the acrylic emulsion fraction substantially enhanced hydrophobicity, yielding a maximum water contact angle of 129.3°. Concurrently, the apparent density decreased from 0.18 g/cm3 to 0.09 g/cm3 and the thermal conductivity dropped from 57.9 mW/(m·K) to 29.0 mW/(m·K). Mechanical testing revealed that the compressive Young’s modulus decreased with increasing acrylic content, from 3.6 MPa for the purely inorganic sample to 0.55 MPa at 70% acrylic content, reflecting a trade-off between stiffness and organic-derived porosity. Microstructural characterization revealed a hierarchical porous network in which uniformly dispersed hollow glass microspheres and the aerogel-derived silica network form an efficient thermal barrier system. Thermogravimetric analysis demonstrated excellent thermal stability, with total weight loss below 5% up to 800 °C. Infrared thermography analysis showed that, after unilateral heating at 300 °C and 400 °C for 10 min, the backside surface temperature of the composites decreased as the acrylic emulsion content increased. At 300 °C, the temperature decreased from 176.1 °C for AP-1 to 151.0 °C for AP-4, while at 400 °C, it decreased from 228.5 °C to 199.3 °C. These results indicate that the composites exhibit effective thermal insulation and maintain structural stability under high-temperature exposure. Taken together, this facile and scalable approach yields these aerogel-containing composites that combine low density, low thermal conductivity, robust structural integrity, and good environmental resistance, as evidenced by a water contact angle of 129.3°, making them promising candidates for aerospace, building, and industrial high-temperature insulation applications. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Functionalized Aerogels: Preparation, Modification and Applications)
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23 pages, 5727 KB  
Article
Titanium-Integrated Magnetic Silica Aerogels via Microfluidic Synthesis for Pesticide Removal from Water
by Elena-Theodora Moldoveanu, Adelina-Gabriela Niculescu, Dana-Ionela Tudorache (Trifa), Alexandra-Cătălina Bîrcă, Bogdan Purcăreanu, Ionela C. Voinea, Miruna S. Stan, Bogdan-Ștefan Vasile, Dan Eduard Mihaiescu, Tony Hadibarata and Alexandru Mihai Grumezescu
Gels 2026, 12(4), 309; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels12040309 - 3 Apr 2026
Viewed by 593
Abstract
Pesticides are a major cause of water contamination, making this issue a major environmental and public health concern. In this context, the development of advanced and effective remediation materials is needed. In this study, a titanium-functionalized magnetic silica aerogel (AG-Ti@Fe3O4 [...] Read more.
Pesticides are a major cause of water contamination, making this issue a major environmental and public health concern. In this context, the development of advanced and effective remediation materials is needed. In this study, a titanium-functionalized magnetic silica aerogel (AG-Ti@Fe3O4-SA) was successfully prepared via microfluidics and evaluated for water decontamination. The structural and compositional features of the aerogel were determined using XRD, FT-IR, RAMAN, SEM, TEM, BET, and DLS, confirming the formation of the aerogel with dispersed Fe3O4-SA nanoparticles and the successful incorporation of titanium within the aerogel matrix. Regarding decontamination potential, the aerogel was tested against a pesticide mixture, yielding pesticide-dependent removal efficiencies (16–100%). Notably, the aerogel exhibited a high affinity for organophosphorus pesticides and a moderate affinity for polar compounds, whereas bulky hydrophobic pesticides showed lower adsorption. In vitro, the aerogel induced a moderate decrease in HaCaT cell viability after 48 h of exposure, accompanied by a slight increase in lactate dehydrogenase release, while HEK293 cells remained largely unaffected, indicating a cell-type-dependent biological response. Overall, the findings from this screening-level study recommend AG-Ti@Fe3O4-SA aerogel as a promising selective adsorbent for pesticide removal. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Functionalized Aerogels: Preparation, Modification and Applications)
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18 pages, 4997 KB  
Article
Towards Enhanced Battery Thermal Safety: A Lightweight and Mechanically Robust Aerogel with Superior Insulation
by Yin Chen, Ruinan Sheng and Mingyi Chen
Gels 2026, 12(1), 54; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels12010054 - 5 Jan 2026
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1485
Abstract
With the continuous increase in energy density of lithium-ion batteries, thermal safety has become a critical constraint on their further development. To address the limitations of mechanical brittleness and high-temperature infrared transparency in SiO2 aerogels for thermal safety applications in lithium-ion batteries, [...] Read more.
With the continuous increase in energy density of lithium-ion batteries, thermal safety has become a critical constraint on their further development. To address the limitations of mechanical brittleness and high-temperature infrared transparency in SiO2 aerogels for thermal safety applications in lithium-ion batteries, this study developed a novel nanofiber aerogel composite by incorporating chitosan and MXene into a SiO2 aerogel matrix. This material retains the characteristics of being ultra-lightweight and highly elastic while significantly enhancing mechanical strength and high-temperature insulation performance. It exhibits a thermal conductivity of 0.034 W/m K at room temperature and 0.053 W/m K at 400 °C, alongside a compressive strength of 1.172 MPa. In battery thermal runaway propagation tests, the aerogel successfully prevented propagation in serially connected and electrically isolated systems, and delayed thermal runaway propagation by 35 s in a parallel system, demonstrating excellent thermal runaway suppression capability. This work provides an effective material solution for the practical application of high-performance thermal insulation aerogels in battery safety protection and offers inspiration for developing new insulating ceramic aerogels. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Recent Advances in Functionalized Aerogels: Preparation, Modification and Applications)
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