Electrically conductive oxide aerogels: new materials in electrochemistry

Aerogels, which are nanoscale mesoporous materials of low density and high surface area, have been well studied as thermal insulators, heterogeneous catalysts, and novel particle or radiation detectors. Now, electrically conducting oxide aerogels are being explored as new materials in electrochemistry and for their innate ability to amplify the nature of the surfaces of technologically relevant conducting oxides in batteries, ultracapacitors, and fuel cells. Recent results are reviewed in which the mixed electron- and cation-conducting transition metal oxides of vanadium, molybdenum, ruthenium, and manganese have been prepared as low density, highly porous, and high surface area aerogels and then studied as charge-storage electrode materials. These materials challenge the standard ways in which electrochemically active oxides are conceived, studied, and used.