A multifunctional zeolitic imidazolate framework-8@wood aerogel composite intergrating superior performance of dye adsorption capacity and flame-retardant property

Zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) materials have been extensively studied in various enviornmentally friendly application. However, due to the powdered crystalline state and intrinsic brittleness of ZIFs, their processability and handling remain a significant challenge. Combining ZIFs and wood aerogel (WA) substrates to obtain advanced composites is excepted to further enhance their performance with higher practicability. Herein, a multifunctional ZIF-8@WA composite was successfully fabricated via in-situ growth of ZIF-8 nanoparticles on the wood aerogel obtained by selectively removing lignin and hemicellulose from balsa wood. Owing to the structural characteristics of ZIFs and WA, the resultant ultralight ZIF-8@WA composite exhibit hierarchical porostity, efficient dye adsorption performance and superior flame retardancy. At a 7.5 wt.% ZIF-8 loading, the composite displays high removal efficiency up to 95.0% for methylene blue (MB) and the adsorption capacity can reach 198.33 mg g −1 at 298 K. The MB removal efficiency could maintain 88.87% even after five cycles of repeated usage. Moreover, the incorporation of ZIF-8 has significantly effect on thermal stability at the early stage and char layer formatting of WA substrate. Compared with the pristine WA, the peak of heat release rate of the ZIF-8@WA hybrid materials exhibited a drastic decline by 63.4% from 145.8 to 53.3 W g −1 and the total heat release from 13.8 to 4.4 kJ g −1 .This work offers a new avenues for designing and constructing functionalized MOF@wood-derived advanced composite that may boost their environmental- and green building-related applications.