Multifunctional carboxymethyl cellulose-based gel fabric with fluorescent warning for fire rescue

A multifunctional carboxymethyl cellulose-based gel fabric with fluorescent warning, motion sensing, and flame retardant protection was fabricated by crosslinking copolymerization and freeze-drying strategy. During the formation of multifunctional gel fabric, hydrogen-, coordination-, chemical- bonds, and abundant network structures were generated. These synergies give multifunctional fabrics reliable and durable flame retardant, fluorescent, and mechanical properties. The liquid metal affected the pore wall thickness of the gel to adjust the distribution of fluorescent materials in the gel, and Kaolin (Kaol) promoted the fluorescence behavior of multifunctional gel fabric containing inorganic fluorescent materials NH₂-SrAl₂O₄:Eu²⁺, Dy³⁺. In addition, the silicate produced by the decomposition of Kaol during combustion forms a ceramic protective layer on the surface of the gel fabric, which improves the flame-retardant behavior of the gel fabric. More importantly, the gel fabric prepared in this work still showed excellent fluorescence behavior at high temperatures (~250 °C), and the fabric exhibited consistent strain sensing ability after adsorbing NaCl solution at different temperatures, which could be applied to the motion sensing of firefighters in high-temperature fire scenes. This work provides a new pathway for the development of next-generation intelligent safety protective fabrics for fire rescue.