Invented in the early time of 20th century, aerogel is seemingly an “old” rather than “new” material, while its recent appearance in various fields has attracted great interest among people. In the meantime, however, multifarious reports have confused the audience to some extent. On the basis of aerogel’s history and personal understanding, this paper is aimed at re-shaping the concept of aerogel in plain language so as to clarify the confusions and promote a better understanding of this material.

作为一种诞生于20世纪初的材料，气凝胶本不属于最近发现的“新材料”，然而近年来在多个领域的频繁亮相，令公众对这种材料产生了浓厚的兴趣，大呼新奇。与此同时，由于报道角度的不同，这种材料无疑成为了“多面体”，给人以扑朔迷离之感。本文旨在以科普的笔调重塑气凝胶的形象，结合气凝胶的历史浅谈对这种材料的认识，以期澄清疑惑，加深理解。