Department of Rehabilitation, Beijing Rehabilitation Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing 100144, P. R. China.
Suzhou Institute of Nano-Tech and Nano-Bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou 215123, P. R. China.
Soft Matter. 2020 Oct 21;16(40):9160-9175. doi: 10.1039/d0sm01261k.
Aerogels are a class of porous materials that possess extremely high specific surface area, high pore volume, high porosity, and variable chemical structures. They have been widely applied in the fields of aerospace, chemical engineering, construction, electrotechnics, and biomedicine. In recent years a great boom in aerogels has been observed, where various new aerogels with novel physicochemical properties and functions have been synthesized. Nevertheless, native aerogels with a single component normally face severe problems such as low mechanical strength and lack of functions. One strategy to solve the problems is to construct hybrid aerogels. In this study, a comprehensive review on polymer based hybrid aerogels is presented, including polymer-polymer, polymer-carbon material, and polymer-inorganic hybrid aerogels, which will be introduced and discussed in view of their chemical structures and hybrid structures. Most importantly, polymeric hybrid aerogels are classified into three different composition levels, which are molecular-level, molecular-aggregate-level, and aggregate-level, due to the fact that hybrid aerogels with the same chemical structures but with different composition levels might show quite different functions or properties. The biomedical applications of these hybrid aerogels will also be reviewed and discussed, where the polymeric components in the hybrid aerogels provide the main contribution. This review would provide creative design principles for aerogels by considering both their chemical and physical structures.
气凝胶是一类具有极高比表面积、高孔体积、高孔隙率和可变化化学结构的多孔材料。它们已经广泛应用于航空航天、化学工程、建筑、电工和生物医药等领域。近年来，气凝胶领域取得了巨大的发展，各种具有新颖物理化学性质和功能的新型气凝胶被合成出来。然而，具有单一成分的天然气凝胶通常面临着机械强度低和功能缺乏等严重问题。解决这些问题的一种策略是构建杂化气凝胶。本研究对基于聚合物的杂化气凝胶进行了全面综述，包括聚合物-聚合物、聚合物-碳材料和聚合物-无机杂化气凝胶，将从它们的化学结构和杂化结构方面进行介绍和讨论。最重要的是，由于具有相同化学结构但组成水平不同的杂化气凝胶可能表现出截然不同的功能或性质，因此将聚合物杂化气凝胶分为分子水平、分子聚集体水平和聚集水平三个不同的组成水平。本文还综述和讨论了这些杂化气凝胶的生物医学应用，其中杂化气凝胶中的聚合物成分提供了主要贡献。通过考虑气凝胶的化学和物理结构，本综述为气凝胶的设计提供了创造性的原则。
