Refractory nanoporous materials fabricated using tungsten atomic layer deposition on silica aerogels

► Silica aerogels were coated using tungsten atomic layer deposition (ALD). ► High porosity and surface area of aerogels were preserved during ALD. ► Monolith density could be tuned from 0.3 to 5.0 g/cc. ► Nanoporous monoliths survived high temperature vacuum heating to 1500 °C. ► Useful as rare-isotope catchers for short-lived radioactive isotope beams.