A new class of materials based on inorganic and organic species combined at a nanoscale level has received large attention recently. In this work the idea of producing hybrid materials with controllable properties is applied to obtain foams to be used as catalyst supporting. Hybrids were synthesized by reacting poly(vinyl alcohol) in acidic solution with water glass. The inorganic phase was also modified by incorporating a hexamethyldisiloxane as precursor. The hybrid aerogel powder was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, TG-DTA, Nitrogen adsorption-desorption, X-ray diffraction and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) spectroscopy. The powder obtained had a higher porosity varying from 65 to 90% and the nanopore diameter ranged from 17 to 20 nm. The surface area and nanopore volume decreased as polymer content increased in the hybrids. The sharp decline in the weight observed at around 500 degrees C accompanied an exothermic peak of the DTA curve. The sharp peak was observed around 21.1 degrees C represents the DTA curve of Poly vinyl alcohol constituent in nano hybrids. The peak at 1638 cm(-1) the FTIR indicated the formation of Si-O-PVA-O-Si bridge in aerogel powder. (C) 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 117: 3533-3538, 2010