The development of aerogel has been continuously supported by national policies. In 2014 and 2015, the National Development and Reform Commission included aerogel in the "National Key Energy-Saving and Low-Carbon Technology Promotion Catalogue" for two consecutive years, and began to promote and apply aerogels initially; in June 2018, aerogels were included in the emerging building materials industry; in September of the same year, the first national standard for aerogels, "Nanoporous Aerogel Composite Insulation Products", was released; in 2020, the "Technical Standards for Aerogel Thermal Insulation Coating Systems" was put into use; in 2021, the "Opinions of the CPC Central Committee and the State Council on the Complete, Accurate and Comprehensive Implementation of the New Development Concept and the Work of Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality" proposed to promote the research and development and application of new materials such as aerogels.


As aerogel application technology continues to mature, aerogel development has entered the "fast lane". However, Li Weike said that there are still some problems in aerogel research. For example, the thermal conductivity of aerogel increases rapidly under high temperature conditions, and the adhesion with reinforcing matrix materials such as fibers is poor; many organic solvents are used in the production process, which is easy to cause environmental pollution; aerogel is difficult to recycle and is not conducive to sustainable development.


In addition, aerogel production costs are high and the product price is expensive. The "2022 Aerogel Industry Research Report" pointed out that the production cost of aerogel is mainly concentrated in the raw material silicon source, equipment depreciation and energy consumption. Effective cost reduction depends not only on breakthroughs in preparation technology, but also on large-scale industrialization of low-cost raw materials.


Aerogel is a rare material that can simultaneously meet multiple needs such as fire prevention, waterproofing, heat insulation, and sound insulation. Li Weike said that the development and application of aerogel is still in the process of continuous exploration, and the future research direction will focus on the development of new aerogels such as cellulose aerogel, graphene aerogel, perovskite structure aerogel, and non-metallic single aerogel.