(1. State Key Laboratory of NBC Protection for Civilian, Research Institute of Chemical Defense, Beijing 100191, China) (2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Haze Health Effects and Protection, Research Institute of Chemical Defense, Beijing 100191, China) (3. School of Resources and Environment Engineering, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430070, China)
With the acceleration of domestic modern industrial process, the rapidly rising level of air pollutants such as airborne nanoparticles and volatile organic compounds leads to air quality deteriorating and has serious impact on peoples daily work and life. The unique properties of aerogels such as enormous active surface area, high porosity, extremely low density and low thermal conductivity make them attractive materials for several applications ranging from thermal and acoustic insulation, catalysis and filtration to biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. Preparation methods of aerogel materials including solgel process, aging, drying technology and carbonization were introduced. Progress on the aerogel materials used in the filtration of aerosol nanoparticles and volatile organic compounds was discussed in detail, and an outlook on the future direction of the aerogel materials was made at the same time.