Particle boards are manufactured through a hot pressing process using wood materials (natural polymer materials) and adhesive, which find common usage in indoor decorative finishing materials. Flame-retardant particleboard, crucial for fire safety in such applications, undergoes performance analysis that includes assessing temperature distribution across its facing surface and temperature increase on the backside surface during facade combustion, yielding critical insights into fire scenario development. In this study, a compact flame spread apparatus is utilized to examine the flame retardancy and combustion behavior of particle boards, with a specific emphasis on the application of cost-effective flame retardants, encompassing aluminum hypophosphite (ALHP), an intumescent flame retardant (IFR) comprising ammonium polyphosphate (APP), melamine (MEL), and Dipentaerythritol (DPE), alongside magnesium hydroxide (MDH), and their associated combustion characteristics. The D_300°C values, representing the vertical distance from the ignition point (IP) to P_300°C (the temperature point at 300 °C farthest from IP), are measured using a compact temperature distribution measurement platform. For MDH/PB, APP + MEL + DPE/PB, and ALHP/PB samples, the respective D_300°C values of 145.79 mm, 117.81 mm, and 118.57 mm indicate reductions of 11.11%, 28.17%, and 27.71%, compared to the untreated sample’s value of 164.02 mm. The particle boards treated with ALHP, IFR, and MDH demonstrated distinct flame-retardant mechanisms. MDH/PB relied on the thermal decomposition of MDH to produce MgO and H₂O for flame retardancy, while APP + MEL + DPE/PB achieved flame retardancy through a cross-linked structure with char expansion, polyphosphate, and pyrophosphate during combustion. On the other hand, ALHP/PB attained flame retardancy by reacting with wood materials and adhesives, forming a stable condensed P-N-C structure. This study serves as a performance reference for the production of cost-effective flame-resistant particleboards and offers a practical method for assessing its fire-resistant properties when used as a decorative finishing material on facades in real fire situations.

A low-voltage biomass matrix and flexible electric-heating composite with graphene oxide (GO) and cationic cellulose nanofiber (CCNF) were fabricated by ultrasonic dispersion and suction filtration. The main results show that the tensile strength and strain of the films decreased with an increase in the GO content, but the thermal stability increased. The GO/CCNF film underwent rapid thermal decomposition at 250–350 °C, and the maximum degradation temperature was higher by 19 °C compared to that of the pure CCNF film. It was found that the electrical conductivity increased from 0.013 to 2.96 S/cm with an increase in the GO content from 20 to 60 wt%, resulting in an increase in the power density from 122 to 2456 W/m². The films could rapidly attain the temperature within 50 s, and the heat transferred by radiation and convection was 21.62 mW/°C, thereby exhibiting excellent electric heating response. Moreover, the film demonstrated a stable electric-heating cycle after a 12.5 h cycling test and meets the requirements of low-temperature electric heating products under the 36 V electric safety limit, which expands the potential applications of biomass-derived cellulose nanofibers.

This study presents a model for simulating the microscopic heat transfer processes in a wood-metal composite material. The model was developed by analyzing the microstructure of experimental samples comprising a melted alloy impregnated in a wood matrix. According to the thermal parameters of the materials and the boundary conditions, an analytical model of microscale heat transfer was established using Abaqus finite element analysis software. The model was validated experimentally by comparing temperature curves obtained via simulation and experiments; the resulting correlation coefficient was 0.96557. We then analyzed the temperature distribution of the composite material with different cell geometries and heat transfer conditions (heat transfer direction and applied temperature). The thermal properties of the unit cell models were in good agreement with the general trends predicted by several heat transfer equations. This study provides a method for analyzing the microscale heat transfer process in wood-based composites. In addition, the model framework characteristics can be used to evaluate the heat transfer mechanism of impregnated modified wood.