Preparation and properties of a kind of high conductivity flexible wood with light switch characteristics

The manufacture and functionalization of transparent wood (TW) have recently attracted extensive interest. However, it is still a challenge to prepare flexible TW with high conductivity and optical switch. In this study, octadecyl methacrylic acid (ODMA) is used as optical switch. Sodium chloride and silver nanowires (AgNWs) were used to improve the conductivity. N, N‐bis (acrylamide) cysteamine (BACA) was used as a binder between AgNWs and wood. Acrylamide is used to impregnate delignified wood substrates and can polymerize with BACA. Then, poly (acrylamide co octadecyl methacrylate) (PAMODMA) wood with tunable transmittance, flexibility and high conductivity(resistance 1.2 Ω, conductivity 6364.8 s/m)was prepared after curing. The transmittance and phase transition temperature of PAMODMA wood can be adjusted by ODMA. After 350 cycles of bending, the resistance of wood has no significant change. PAMODMA wood has a broad application prospect in intelligent window, sensor, intelligent robot and other fields. This is a kind of highly conductive flexible wood with optical switching characteristics. If the ambient temperature is higher than the phase change temperature, the wood is transparent, which is conducive to the passage of light. When the temperature is lower than the phase transition temperature, the wood becomes opaque, which can prevent heat from being dissipated through the wood. It has potential applications in indoor insulation and reducing heat consumption at low temperature.