Applications of functionally architected aerogels in photo-thermo-electric conversion

Recent advances in information technology and new energy systems have introduced increasingly stringent requirements in regulating energy transport within materials. Conventional material-design paradigms are limited by inherent trade-offs among optical, thermal, and electrical transport properties, creating an urgent need for a new paradigm to fundamentally decouple and reconstruct material functionalities

Recent progress on nanoporous aerogels as an enabling platform is systematically summarized, emphasizing how hierarchical structural design and cross-scale assembly of building units allow precise control of diverse energy-carrier transport. Based on this theoretical framework, advanced applications in photo–thermal–electrical energy conversion are highlighted, with particular emphasis on research progress and performance optimization pathways of aerogels for photothermal, photoelectric, thermoelectric, and integrated photo–thermal–electric systems.

Finally, future research directions including AI-driven inverse design and synergistic regulation of multiple energy carriers are outlooked, providing new perspectives for the on-demand development of next-generation high-performance photo–thermal–electrical conversion materials.