Elastic Aerogels of Cellulose Nanofibers@Metal–Organic Frameworks for Thermal Insulation and Fire Retardancy

Metal–organic frameworks(MOFs)with high microporosity and relatively high thermal stability are potential thermal insulation and flame-retardant materials.However,the difficulties in processing and shaping MOFs have largely hampered their applications in these areas.This study outlines the fabrication of hybrid CNF@MOF aerogels by a stepwise assembly approach involving the coating and cross-linking of cellulose nanofibers(CNFs)with continuous nanolayers of MOFs.The cross-linking gives the aerogels high mechanical strength but superelasticity(80%maximum recoverable strain,high specific compression modulus of^200 MPa cm3 g−1,and specific stress of^100 MPa cm3 g−1).The resultant lightweight aerogels have a cellular network structure and hierarchical porosity,which render the aerogels with relatively low thermal conductivity of^40 mW m−1 K−1.The hydrophobic,thermally stable MOF nanolayers wrapped around the CNFs result in good moisture resistance and fire retardancy.This study demonstrates that MOFs can be used as efficient thermal insulation and flame-retardant materials.It presents a pathway for the design of thermally insulating,superelastic fire-retardant nanocomposites based on MOFs and nanocellulose.