Water-Enhancing Gels Exhibiting Heat-Activated Formation of Silica Aerogels for Protection of Critical Infrastructure During Catastrophic Wildfire.

Autor: Dong C; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA., d'Aquino AI; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA., Sen S; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA., Hall IA; Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA., Yu AC; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA., Crane GB; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA., Acosta JD; Department of Natural Resource Management & Environmental Sciences, California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA, 93407, USA., Appel EA; Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.; Department of Bioengineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.; Stanford ChEM-H Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.; Woods Institute for the Environment, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.; Department of Pediatrics-Endocrinology, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, 94305, USA.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Advanced materials (Deerfield Beach, Fla.) [Adv Mater] 2024 Oct; Vol. 36 (40), pp. e2407375. Date of Electronic Publication: 2024 Aug 21.
DOI: 10.1002/adma.202407375
Abstrakt: A promising strategy to address the pressing challenges with wildfire, particularly in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), involves developing new approaches for preventing and controlling wildfire within wildlands. Among sprayable fire-retardant materials, water-enhancing gels have emerged as exceptionally effective for protecting civil infrastructure. They possess favorable wetting and viscoelastic properties that reduce the likelihood of ignition, maintaining strong adherence to a wide array of surfaces after application. Although current water-enhancing hydrogels effectively maintain surface wetness by creating a barricade, they rapidly desiccate and lose efficacy under high heat and wind typical of wildfire conditions. To address this limitation, unique biomimetic hydrogel materials from sustainable cellulosic polymers crosslinked by colloidal silica particles are developed that exhibit ideal viscoelastic properties and facile manufacturing. Under heat activation, the hydrogel transitions into a highly porous and thermally insulative silica aerogel coating in situ, providing a robust protective layer against ignition of substrates, even when the hydrogel fire suppressant becomes completely desiccated. By confirming the mechanical properties, substrate adherence, and enhanced substrate protection against fire, these heat-activatable biomimetic hydrogels emerge as promising candidates for next-generation water-enhancing fire suppressants. These advancements have the potential to dramatically improve the ability to protect homes and critical infrastructure during wildfire.
(© 2024 The Author(s). Advanced Materials published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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