Zirconia aerogels are porous nanomaterials with high specific surface areas and low thermal conductivities that are suitable for a wide range of functions. The applications of zirconia aerogels include numerous uses in thermal management systems that are specifically beneficial in aeronautics and aerospace systems. This review seeks to detail the synthesis, processing, and characterization of these unique materials. However, the many distinctive synthesis pathways and processing conditions of zirconia aerogels can make the optimization of these materials difficult, potentially inhibiting further development. Independent variables in the synthesis process alone include zirconium precursor, rare earth stabilizer, solvent system, gelation agent, and surfactant templating agent. If only two distinct options were available for each synthetic variable, there would be up to 32 different synthetic pathways; if there were three options for each variable, 243 different synthetic pathways would be possible. Apart from the gel synthesis, processing conditions, including drying method, drying temperature, drying solvent, and sintering temperature, as well as various techniques used to characterize aerogels, need to be considered. To mitigate the sheer volume of synthetic parameters, this review uses an architected information structure to contemplate approximately 600 aerogel materials, along with the synthesis and processing conditions that make each material unique. By utilizing this information structure, containing over 10,000 relationships amongst 3,800 nodes, the connection between specific properties of zirconia aerogels and the pathways used to produce them can be more easily visualized, leading to a more effective understanding of the many variables that are used in the synthesis and processing of these materials. This review seeks to utilize data science in a way that can elucidate structure-property relationships in colloidal chemistry, providing a more efficient way to evaluate the synthesis and processing of materials with high experimental dimensionality.

氧化锆气凝胶是多孔纳米材料，具有高比表面积和低热导率，适用于多种功能。氧化锆气凝胶的应用包括在热管理系统中的众多用途，这些系统特别有益于航空航天系统。本综述旨在详细介绍这些独特材料的合成、加工和表征。然而，氧化锆气凝胶的许多独特合成途径和加工条件会使这些材料的优化变得困难，可能会阻碍进一步的发展。单独合成过程中的自变量包括锆前体、稀土稳定剂、溶剂体系、胶凝剂和表面活性剂模板剂。如果每个合成变量只有两个不同的选项可用，将有多达 32 种不同的合成途径；如果每个变量有三个选项，则可能有 243 种不同的合成途径。除了凝胶合成外，还需要考虑加工条件，包括干燥方法、干燥温度、干燥溶剂和烧结温度，以及用于表征气凝胶的各种技术。为了减少合成参数的庞大数量，本综述使用架构信息结构来考虑大约 600 种气凝胶材料，以及使每种材料独一无二的合成和加工条件。通过利用这种包含 3,800 个节点之间的 10,000 多个关系的信息结构，可以更轻松地可视化氧化锆气凝胶的特定特性与用于生产它们的途径之间的联系，从而更有效地了解在这些材料的合成和加工中使用的许多变量。本综述旨在以一种可以阐明胶体化学中结构-性质关系的方式利用数据科学，提供一种更有效的方法来评估具有高实验维数的材料的合成和加工。