Abstract: Carbon aerogel is a kind of porous material with three-dimensional (3D) network structure, which has the advantages of low density, high porosity, low thermal conductivity, high conductivity, high thermal stability and strong chemical inertness. It has shown great application prospects in the fields of high temperature insulation, energy storage, photothermal conversion, electromagnetic wave absorption, adsorption and catalysis.However, carbon aerogel materials have the disadvantages of complex preparation process, long production cycle and poor mechanical properties. In particular, carbon aerogel materials are used in the field of flexible electronic devices, they often break or even collapse when subjected to tension, bending and extrusion, which greatly limits their commercial progress.Therefore, reducing the production cost and improving the mechanical properties of 3D carbon aerogel materials are the focus of current research. In this paper, according to the different sources of carbon aerogels, they are classified into three categories: organic pyrolytic carbon aerogels, inorganic assembled carbon aerogels and organic/inorganic hybrid carbon aerogels .In addition, the common preparation methods of 3D carbon aerogel composites were reviewed, and the effects of different preparation processes on the structure and properties of aerogel materials were analyzed. Finally, the advanced applications of carbon aerogel materials in oil absorption, energy storage, heat insulation, catalysis, wave absorption and photothermal conversion are summarized.