The effects of drying temperature on the structural evolution of alkoxy-derived silica gel prepared using various catalysts have been investigated. The dependence of specific surface area, S g, reflecting the structure, on the temperature of drying was remarkable for a non-catalyzed xerogel. The effect of drying temperature on the S g of an ammonia-catalyzed xerogel was also found but was not very large. The S g of xerogels obtained by drying at 60°C was always higher by 50% than the gels dried at 30°C without regard to the aging temperature. The S g of xerogels from HCl-catalyzed solution was of the order of several m 2/g, however, the S g of the aerogel obtained by hypercritical drying of the wet gel from a similar solution was about 800 m 2/g. These phenomena were understood on the basis of SAXS measurements on both wet gels and aerogels.