Recent Advances on Aerogels Used for Artificial Ecological Cycle System

The energy crisis and environmental pollution are the existing global problems for humanbeings. It is a priority to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gases and to achieve carbon neutrality. The “artificial ecological cycle” for “(energy supply–storage–consumption–resupply)” enables to recycle and obtain material and energy via the consumption of CO₂ to alleviate these problems. Aerogels with a ultra-high porosity, a large specific surface area and a ultra-low density, and a continuous three-dimensional network structure can provide abundant charge transfer channels, and can be used as carriers to dope or load various organic or inorganic active materials to obtain composite materials with excellent catalytic performance for a wide range of applications in “artificial ecological cycle” system, i.e., photochemistry, electrochemistry, energy storage materials and other fields. In this review, we outlined the relevant applications of aerogels in photochemistry, electrochemistry, artificial nitrogen fixation, hydrogen storage and thermoelectric materials in the artificial ecological cycle, as well as outlooked the development prospects of aerogels.