A crucial stage in silica aerogel production in which extraction with
liquid (or supercritical) carbon dioxide is used is alcohol diffusion
through alcogel to CO2. The quality of samples produced ranged from pe
rfect monoliths (long diffusion times) to completely damaged specimens
(the shortest diffusion times). In intermediate conditions, a non-tra
nsparent damaged zone was observed inside samples. On the basis of the
dependence of damage size on diffusion time, the values of the diffus
ion coefficient of ethanol in the liquid CO2 inside the silica gel wer
e identified for two temperatures.