Methods of making permeable aerogels

A method of making a permeable aerogel, comprising:

• providing a sol mixture comprising an organic scaffold, an inorganic aerogel precursor, and a first solvent, wherein the organic scaffold is insoluble in the first solvent;
• reacting the sol mixture to form a gel such that an interconnected channel network is formed which is at least partially defined by the organic scaffold;
• exchanging the first solvent in the gel with a second solvent, wherein the second solvent dissolves at least a portion of the organic scaffold to expose the interconnected channel network;
• and
• drying the gel to form the permeable aerogel, wherein at least one of:
• the organic scaffold is formed by dissolving an organic material in a scaffold solvent to form a lacquer, and mixing the lacquer into the sol mixture such that the sol mixture separates into a lacquer-rich phase and a sol-rich phase, the lacquer-rich phase being the organic scaffold;
• the organic scaffold is formed by mixing solid fibers of an organic material into the sol mixture;
• the organic scaffold is a composite organic scaffold formed by mixing solid fibers of a first organic material into the sol mixture;
• and dissolving a second organic material in a scaffold solvent to form a lacquer;
• and mixing the lacquer into the sol mixture such that the sol mixture separates into a lacquer-rich phase and a sol-rich phase;
• the organic scaffold comprises 40% to 70% of the sol mixture by volume;
• and
• the sol mixture further comprises a basic catalyst to gelate the inorganic aerogel precursor.