Ceramic oxide aerogels incorporating periodically dispersed flexible linkages are provided. The flexible linkages impart greater flexibility than the native aerogels without those linkages, and have been shown to reduce or eliminate the need for supercritical CO2-mediated drying of the corresponding wet gels. The gels may also be polymer cross-linked via organic polymer chains that are attached to and extend from surface-bound functional groups provided or present over the internal surfaces of a mesoporous ceramic oxide particle network via appropriate chemical reactions.