Pure gaseous-born aerogels from solid solutions via vapor sublimation and deposition polymerization.

Prospective aerogels are envisioned to exhibit process adaptability, molecular functionality, and biological compatibility. Here, we show a purely gaseous-born fabrication process based on vapor sublimation and deposition polymerization to produce prospective aerogels and conformal coating with complex surface topologies and geometries. The proposed fabrication mechanisms enable rational processability and direct integration of a wide range of organic and inorganic additive molecules, including zinc-based metal-organic framework (MOF) aerogels, multicomponent aerogels, cell-laden aerogels, and gas-laden aerogels. The fabricated cell-laden aerogels maintain excellent cell viability, stem cell spheroid formation, differentiation abilities, and coculture compartmentalization, while the gas-laden aerogels exhibit tunable gas adsorption and release behavior. The gaseous fabrication process is environmentally friendly, produces no harmful byproducts and uses water-based solutions. The fabricated aerogels are characterized by an ultralight of approximately 0.004 g/cm3 in density, ranging from 90% to 99% in porosity, and a high surface area of approximately 1300 m2/g and above.