Flame Retardant Cellulose-Based Hybrid Hydrogels for Firefighting and Fire Prevention

Wildfires have been recognized as a natural incident in some forests, however, fire season is now more severe and extensive, even in tropical rainforests in which fire could have damaging impacts. A hydrogel is a 3-D polymeric structure encompassing cross-linked and hydrophilic macromolecules. In comparison with water, hydrogels have shown some superiorities in terms of water-binding, cooling, and sealing, which make them be applied in forest fire prevention programs for improving fire-extinguishing performance. In this study, an environmentally friendly phosphorus-modified methylcellulose/silica hybrid hydrogel was prepared based on the modified methylcellulose by 9,10-dihydro-9-oxa-10-phosphaphenanthrene-10-oxide–itaconic acid (DOPO-ITA) and silica nanoparticles. In the fire prevention experiments, the grass treated with the methylcellulose@DOPO-ITA@silica hybrid hydrogel shows self-extinguishing behavior, whereas those treated with ordinary water or methylcellulose hydrogel can be easily ignited after one week. In the firefighting experiments, the methylcellulose@DOPO-ITA@silica hybrid hydrogel displays a much shorter extinguishing time and lower consumption volume than ordinary water and the methylcellulose@DOPO-ITA hydrogel. This work presents an environmentally friendly, non-toxic, and biodegradable cellulose-based hybrid hydrogel for the fire prevention and firefighting of wildfires.