TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - INORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Method: The silicon dioxide precursor is mixed with the water and the catalyst to form the sol without adding a solvent, where the solvent is an alcohol. The second acid is added first to the silicon dioxide precursor with water to activate hydrolysis and the hydrofluoric acid is added subsequently but before gelling the sol. In method-2, the precursor is mixed with the water and the catalyst to form the wet gel without adding a solvent or in the presence of the solvent. The method for making a sol-gel derived monolith comprises determining a point at which shrinkage of the monolith has reached a plateau and heat treating the monolith thereafter to drive off residual liquid in the pores, where heat treating the monolith comprises heating the monolith in a first stage to evaporate residual molecular species in the pores and heating the monolith in a second stage to burn off chemisorbed species in the pores. Preferred Components: The silicon dioxide precursor comprises an alkylorthosilicate. The alkylorthosilicate is tetramethylorthosilicate or tetraethylorthosilicate. The molar ratio of water to silicon dioxide precursor is 3.0:1 or less, preferably 2.25:1 or less. The sol-gel precursor comprises an alkylorthosilicate. The molar ratio of the water to the sol-gel precursor is 3.0:1 or less, preferably 2.25:1 or less. The sol-gel derived monolith has: a predetermined average pore diameter of 0.3-30, preferably 0.3-10 nm; a pore size distribution in which at least 50% of pores have a size within 20%, preferably 10% of an average pore size; or an average pore diameter of 0.3-10 nm and a pore size distribution in which at least 50% of pores have a size within 20% of the average pore size. The molar ratio of the: second acid relative to the alkylorthosilicate is 0.001:1 or less; hydrofluoric acid relative to the alkylorthosilicate is 0.01:1 or less; and hydrofluoric acid relative to the alkylorthosilicate is selected to achieve a desired average pore size and/or a desired pore size distribution. The nanoporous silica sol-gel derived monolith has: at least 60% of the pores have a size within 10% of the average pore size; a porosity of 30-90 vol.%; and a surface area of at least 500 (preferably at least 1000) m2/g.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - ORGANIC CHEMISTRY - Preferred Components: The catalyst comprises a mixture of hydrofluoric acid and a second acid. The second acid is: a weak acid; an organic acid, preferably citric acid, acetic acid or formic acid; or a strong acid comprising hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid or nitric acid. The catalyst comprises a weak acid, preferably an organic acid comprising citric acid, acetic acid or formic acid. The weak acid has a first pKa of 2-5, preferably 2-4.    TECHNOLOGY FOCUS - POLYMERS - Preferred Components: In the mold: the container is formed of polyethylene, polystyrene, polytetrafluoroethylene, polymethylpentene and/or glass; the sidewalls in the slots are created by removable dividers; the spacing between the parallel sidewalls in the slots is set so that the resulting sol-gel wafer has a desired thickness; the spacing between the parallel sidewalls is 1.5-0.1 mm; a cross-sectional dimension in the slots is set so that the resulting sol-gel wafer has a desired cross-sectional dimension; and the slots are filled with a gel formulation. EXAMPLE - An aqueous precursor solution comprising tetraethylorthosilicate (1 molar equivalent) and deionized water (2 molar equivalents) was prepared. An aqueous catalyst solution comprising hydrogen fluoride (0.005 molar equivalents) and acetic acid (0.02 molar equivalents) was prepared. The precursor solution and the catalyst solution were be mixed and the temperature was ramped from 0-70 degrees C for 1-2 hours. The mixture was then transferred to a mold and held at 20 degrees C for an additional 1-2 hours to allow the mixture to react to became a wet, porous monolith. The monolith was removed from the mold and held at 20 degrees C for an additional 12-24 hours and then removed. The shrinkage of the monolith's height and diameter or radius was monitored in one or two dimensions using a laser displacement sensor. The shrinkage of the monolith was reached to a plateau and the monolith was reached its final shrinkage while still wet, with its internal pores filled with its own pore liquid (e.g. water and alcohol) such that shrinkage was substantially uniform over its body. The monolith was dried by heating at 90-180 degrees C to remove molecular species still remaining in the pores under nitrogen (or other inert atmosphere e.g. argon and helium) or air. Subsequently, the monolith was baked at 450 degrees C under air to burn off any chemisorbed species to obtain a silica sol-ger derived monolith.