Background

Household fires have caused civilian injuries, deaths, and direct damages in millions of USD. Flame retardant materials with thermal insulation properties are desired for modern building construction to improve insulation within HVAC systems. Currently, most building insulation is made from flammable organic and petroleum-derived polymers, such as polystyrene, with flame retardant additives including halogen, graphene oxide. During a fire, these additives create toxic byproducts such as halogenated hydrogen and phosphorous oxide, which are harmful to both humans and the environment.

This invention puts forward ultralight, high strength fire-retardant aerogel composed of cellulose nanofibers (CNF), and metallic phase molybdenum disulfide (MoS2).