Versatile Aerogels for Sensors

Aerogels are unique solid‐state materials composed of interconnected 3D solid networks and a large number of air‐filled pores. They extend the structural characteristics as well as physicochemical properties of nanoscale building blocks to macroscale, and integrate typical characteristics of aerogels, such as high porosity, large surface area, and low density, with specific properties of the various constituents. These features endow aerogels with high sensitivity, high selectivity, and fast response and recovery for sensing materials in sensors such as gas sensors, biosensors and strain and pressure sensors, among others. Considerable research efforts in recent years have been devoted to the development of aerogel‐based sensors and encouraging accomplishments have been achieved. Herein, groundbreaking advances in the preparation, classification, and physicochemical properties of aerogels and their sensing applications are presented. Moreover, the current challenges and some perspectives for the development of high‐performance aerogel‐based sensors are summarized. Aerogels have attracted tremendous attention as high‐performance sensing materials in gas sensors, biosensors, strain and pressure sensors, etc., due to their unique interconnected 3D highly porous network and the extension of physicochemical properties of nanoscale building blocks to macroscale. Here, considerable research efforts to develop aerogel and aerogel‐based sensors in recent years are reviewed.