Ceramic aerogels are a class of solids with porosity exceeding 90%, characterized by ultralow density and ultralow thermal conductivity, demonstrating significant application potential in aerospace thermal protection, deep-space exploration, and civilian fields. Traditional ceramic aerogels, composed of ceramic nanoparticles interconnected via necking structures, suffer from intrinsic brittleness and poor high-temperature structural stability. To overcome these challenges, a paradigm shift from 0D nanoparticle networks to 1D nanowire/nanofiber architectures has emerged, enabling unprecedented mechanical resilience while preserving thermal functionality. This review systematically examines the state-of-the-art strategies for the mechano-thermal co-design of ceramic nanowire aerogels, with an emphasis on simultaneously optimizing mechanical robustness, thermal insulation, and high-temperature stability. For mechanical performance, the deformation mechanisms and architectural design principles of ceramic nanowire aerogels are critically analyzed. For thermal performance and its synergy with mechanics, strategies for coordinating thermal insulation and mechanical resilience under extreme temperatures are summarized. By focusing on the integrated design of mechanical strength, thermal insulation, and high-temperature tolerance, this review establishes design frameworks for ceramic aerogels with synergistically optimized thermo-mechanical performance.

With the development of aerospace technology, the Mach number of aircraft continues to increase, which puts forward higher performance requirements for high-temperature wave-transparent materials. Silicon nitrides have excellent mechanical properties, high-temperature stability, and oxidation resistance, but their brittleness and high dielectric constant impede their practical applications. Herein, by employing a template-assisted precursor pyrolysis method, we prepared a class of Si₃N₄@SiO₂ nanowire aerogels (Si₃N₄@SiO₂ NWAGs) that are assembled by Si₃N₄@SiO₂ nanowires with diameters ranging from 386 to 631 nm. Si₃N₄@SiO₂ NWAGs have low density of 12–31 mg∙cm⁻³, specific surface area of 4.13 m²∙g⁻¹, and average pore size of 68.9 μm. Mechanical properties characterization shows that the aerogels exhibit reversible compressibility from 60% compressive strain and good fatigue resistance even when being compressed 100 times at set strain of 20%. The aerogels also show good thermal insulation performance (0.032 W·m⁻¹∙K⁻¹ at room temperature), ablation resistance (butane blow torch), and high-temperature stability (maximum service temperature in air over 1200 ℃). The dielectric constant and loss of the aerogels are 1.02–1.06 and 4.3×10⁻⁵–1.4×10⁻³ at room temperature, respectively. The combination of good mechanical, thermal, and dielectric properties makes Si₃N₄@SiO₂ NWAGs promising ultralight wave-transparent and thermally insulating materials for applications at high temperatures.