Recently, Associate Professor Gu Feng and Wang Wangxia from the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, YCIT have published a research paper entitled Exceptional flame-retardant, super strong/tough, and superhydrophobic/self-cleaning wood in the TOP journal Materials Today (IF: 22.0). Gu Feng is the first author of the paper. Zhu Junyong from the USDA Forest Products Laboratory in the United States and Associate Professor Wangxia Wang from YCIT are the corresponding authors. Yancheng Institute of Technology is listed as the primary institution.
The paper proposes a strategy of “hierarchical reinforcement and synergistic enhancement”. Through a synergistic process of “flame-retardant impregnation — hot-pressing densification — binder-free self-bonding”, a modified wood (RDS-wood) with synergistically optimized multiple properties has been successfully developed. This material possesses high-efficiency flame retardancy, excellent mechanical properties, and superhydrophobic self-cleaning capabilities, meeting the demands of high-end application scenarios. As a natural and renewable material, wood, with its core advantages of being lightweight with high strength, excellent processability, and environmental friendliness, has been widely used in fields such as building structures, interior decoration, and furniture manufacturing. However, limited by the characteristics of its chemical composition such as cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin, wood has long faced key issues such as flammability, insufficient mechanical performance, and susceptibility to moisture and mildew, which greatly restrict its further application in high-demand and harsh scenarios. In addressing these limitations, the team drew inspiration from nature, leveraging the “anti-adhesion” property of the lotus leaf’s superhydrophobic surface and the dense structural advantages of natural wood fibers. The innovative design of a synergistic modification process, termed “flame-retardant impregnation — hot-pressing densification — binder-free self-bonding”, facilitated a comprehensive upgrade in wood performance through precise coordination.
This research not only opens a new path for the high-value utilization of wood but also, with its concept of “multi-property synergistic optimization”, provides a technical reference for the research and development of multi-functional composite materials in the field of materials science. It is expected to promote the upgrade of industries such as construction, transportation, and furniture towards greening, safety, and efficiency.
Fig. 1 A schematic flow diagram for producing an exceptional flame-retardant, super strong/tough, and superhydrophobic/self-cleaning wood.
Fig. 2 Mechanical, surface property and combustion performance of wood samples.
Fig. 3 Images of burning, water-soaking tests, and comparative analysis of A-MDF and RDS-wood.
Feng G, He X, Wei Y, Niu X, Cai Z, Jiang B, Zhu JY, Wang W. Exceptional flame-retardant, super strong/tough, and superhydrophobic/self-cleaning wood [J]. Materials Today, 2025, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mattod.2025.08.034.
