Palladium hexafluoroacetylacetonate (Pd(C(4)HF(6)O)(2)], which is both soluble and easily reducible in supercritical carbon dioxide, was used to impregnate the porous structure of carbon aerogels based on phenolic compounds froth oil shale processing water. Metallic nanoparticles uniformly distributed oil the surface of the carbon matrix enable it to be used as a catalyst. Through the study of various pyrolysis programs and physical activation with CO(2) and H(2)O in the carbon aerogel preparation process, significant increases in the BET specific surface area of the carbon supports (achieving values of over 1600 m(2)/g) were achieved, and the possibility of tailoring the porosity of the samples (microporosity ranging from 40% up to over 90%) was realized.