Mechanical, thermal stability, and flame retardancy performance of transparent wood composite improved with delaminated Ti3C2Tx (MXene) nanosheets

Abstract Transparent wood (TW) is a promising optical material, which provides a potential choice for windows applications. As a polymer composite material, the mechanical, thermal stability, and flame retardant of TW are crucial properties in practical applications. In this study, the delaminated Ti 3 C 2 T x (MXene) were dispersed into polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and then infiltrated into delignified wood to prepare MXene-reinforced transparent wood (TW-MXene). The MXene addition leads to an interlocking mechanism between MXene fillers with a polymer matrix (e.g., PVA, cellulose scaffold), thereby improving the tensile strength of TW. Besides, the dynamic mechanical analysis also proved that the tensile strength of TW-MXene is significantly higher than pure transparent wood with changing the temperature at −50 to 150 °C. The TW added with 1 wt% MXene maintained a lower thermal conductivity of 0.31 W m −1  K −1 , and it showed better UV resistance than TW. Besides, the thermal decomposition rate of TW-MXene composite slows down, and its weight loss rate decreases with the addition of MXene. Furthermore, the presence of 1 wt% MXene endowed TW with 9.3 and 22.0% reductions for PHRR and THR, respectively. This strategy provides an insight into the development of high-performance transparent wood composites with the potential to be used in building fields. Graphical abstract