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Gels
Special Issues
Aerogels and Composites Aerogels
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Aerogels and Composites Aerogels

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

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 28 March 2026 | Viewed by 525

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Zhongming Liu

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Guest Editor
State Key Laboratory of Green Papermaking and Resource Recycling, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan 250353, China
Interests: biobased functional materials; hydrogel; aerogel
Dr. Luísa Durães

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Guest Editor
CERES—Chemical Engineering and Renewable Resources for Sustainability, Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Coimbra, 3000-370 Coimbra, Portugal
Interests: aerogels; nanoparticles; composites; sol-gel; soft solution synthesis; functional nanomaterials; environmental remediation; thermal insulation
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Pasquale Del Gaudio

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Guest Editor
Department of Pharmacy, University of Salerno, 84084 Fisciano, Italy
Interests: hydrogels; aerogels; controlled drug delivery; wound healing; carbohydrate polymers; microparticles; nanoparticles; nanocomposite; 3D printing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Aerogel is a kind of porous solid material with high porosity, mainly in the mesopores range, which leads to high specific surface area and very low density. Therefore, they are suitable for adsorption, separation, catalysis, biological science, thermal insulation, and other fields. However, due to the poor mechanical performance of pristine aerogels, their effective mass production and application are limited. Composite aerogels can be a response to overcome these limitations and were prepared by physical blending, chemical modification, and other technologies, revealing their microstructure regulation mechanism, achieving leapfrog improvement in performance, and laying the foundation for the widespread application of aerogels.

This Special Issue aims to provide an opportunity for researchers to contribute to the dissemination of the latest research and development in aerogels and composite aerogels. The topics of interest include but are not limited to the following: bio-based composite aerogels, organic composite aerogels, inorganic composite aerogels, metal composite aerogels, carbon composite aerogels, etc. The application fields are adsorption, separation, catalysis, biological/biomedical science, thermal insulation, energy production and storage, and other fields.

Dr. Zhongming Liu
Dr. Luísa Durães
Prof. Dr. Pasquale Del Gaudio
Guest Editors

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 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

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

  • aerogel
  • composite aerogel
  • synthesis and characterization
  • physicochemical properties
  • application

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 11379 KiB  
Article
Silk Fibroin–Alginate Aerogel Beads Produced by Supercritical CO2 Drying: A Dual-Function Conformable and Haemostatic Dressing
by Maria Rosaria Sellitto, Domenico Larobina, Chiara De Soricellis, Chiara Amante, Giovanni Falcone, Paola Russo, Beatriz G. Bernardes, Ana Leite Oliveira and Pasquale Del Gaudio
Gels 2025, 11(8), 603; https://doi.org/10.3390/gels11080603 - 2 Aug 2025
Viewed by 407
Abstract
Infection control and bleeding management in deep wounds remain urgent and unmet clinical challenges that demand innovative, multifunctional, and sustainable solutions. Unlike previously reported sodium alginate and silk fibroin-based gel formulations, the present work introduces a dual-functional system combining antimicrobial and haemostatic activity [...] Read more.
Infection control and bleeding management in deep wounds remain urgent and unmet clinical challenges that demand innovative, multifunctional, and sustainable solutions. Unlike previously reported sodium alginate and silk fibroin-based gel formulations, the present work introduces a dual-functional system combining antimicrobial and haemostatic activity in the form of conformable aerogel beads. This dual-functional formulation is designed to absorb exudate, promote clotting, and provide localized antimicrobial action, all essential for accelerating wound repair in high-risk scenarios within a single biocompatible system. Aerogel beads were obtained by supercritical drying of a silk fibroin–sodium alginate blend, resulting in highly porous, spherical structures measuring 3–4 mm in diameter. The formulations demonstrated efficient ciprofloxacin encapsulation (42.75–49.05%) and sustained drug release for up to 12 h. Fluid absorption reached up to four times their weight in simulated wound fluid and was accompanied by significantly enhanced blood clotting, outperforming a commercial haemostatic dressing. These findings highlight the potential of silk-based aerogel beads as a multifunctional wound healing platform that combines localized antimicrobial delivery, efficient fluid and exudate management, biodegradability, and superior haemostatic performance in a single formulation. This work also shows for the first time how the prilling encapsulation technique with supercritical drying is able to successfully produce silk fibroin and sodium alginate composite aerogel beads. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Aerogels and Composites Aerogels)
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