Bioinspired mineralized wood hydrogel composites with flame retardant properties

Wood, a natural organic composite material, is rich in sources, renewable and structurally layered, but the associated fire hazard is a major safety issue in its practical applications. In this study, inspired by natural organic matrix-mediated biomineralisation, delignified wood was impregnated with gelatine hydrogels having biocompatible and mineral-inducing properties; then, mineralised wood–hydrogel composites with efficient flame retardant properties were prepared with in situ mineralised silica on the hydrogel and wood pores via the sol–gel method. Compared with natural wood, these mineralised composites showed a reduction of 63% in maximum heat release rate, 47% in total heat release and 37% in total smoke production. This proves that the proposed green method can effectively improve the flame retardant properties of wood and provide a new pathway for the preparation of wood–inorganic composites.