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Graphene aerogel (GA) samples, prepared by the Sol-Gel method, were tested under quasi-static and dynamical compression, and characterized via surface area analyzer and scanning electron microscopy. The results show that the drying method has a significant influence on the sample’s microstructure as well as its mechanical compression properties. The supercritical CO2 dried sample has a notable higher specific surface area, and higher compression strength; although the freeze dried sample is much lighter than the supercritical CO2 dried sample, it exhibits a nonlinear superelastic behavior and large compressibility with a reversible strain up to 94%; under the dynamic compression test, the supercritical CO2 dried sample presents a negative Poisson’s ratio behavior whereas the flower-like failure pattern was observed for the freeze dried sample. GA, therefore, is a promising candidate for energy absorption purposes because of its very low density, high specific surface area and porous microstructure.