Gelatin-based ionic hydrogel for intelligent fire-alarm system with considerable toughness, flame retardancy, and thermoelectric performance

Temperature-responsive materials with excellent reliability, sensitivity, and flame-retardant properties have always been an urgent need in the field of intelligent fire protection. In this discourse, we introduce a novel thermosensitive ionic hydrogel coating (gelatin/poly(acrylamide-co-acrylic acid)/CaCl2/spindle-shaped aluminum hydroxide nanosheet/glycerol, HCA) synthesized via free radical polymerization. HCA not only demonstrates considerable mechanical properties with a fracture strain of up to 842.5 % and a maximum tensile strength of 0.77 MPa but also exhibits notable flame retardancy and adhesion. It effectively covers combustible surfaces, providing outstanding fire protection. Notably, HCA boasts a Seebeck coefficient of up to 10.1 mV/K, significantly surpassing conventional thermoelectric materials. The well-established linear relationship between the generated voltage and temperature variation enables HCA-based intelligent fire-alarm system to accurately emit continuous alerts during fire incidents and swiftly transmit alarm signals to terminal devices. The development of this intelligent fire-alarm system presents new avenues in intelligent fire-safety technologies. •A high-performance thermoelectric ion hydrogel HCA was synthesized.•HCA exhibits exceptional flame-retardant properties and mechanical performance.•A highly sensitive intelligent fire-alarm system was developed based on HCA.