Biomimetic design of flexible wood film combined with thermochromism and self-luminescence for enhanced energy-saving

Abstract

In this research, the layered bionic wood films were designed and constructed inspired by the “reinforced concrete”-like chemical structure of wood combined with the macrostructure of bark and phloem. Specifically, a simple strategy for immobilizing diol eutectic phase change components with intelligent discoloration/chromogenic leaching in wood by using delignification wood (DE) with capillary penetration was adopted. The “reinforced concrete” structure solves the problem of easy leakage and weak strength due to strong molecular bonding. The bionic wood film has a high phase change enthalpy (155.5 J/g) and suitable phase change temperature (29.9 °C). On this basis, combined with PVA/glycerol as a flexible matrix as the inner bark of wood and phloem connecting each layer, combined with PVA/glycerol/PLO-8C as a key self-luminescent energy-enriched material as the outer bark of wood, the flexible and self-luminescent energy-saving wood films were reconstructed in a biomimetic way with a high mechanical strength (65.53 MPa). Through the change of color, the phase transition process and the current ambient temperature can be intuitively judged. The surface morphology and luminescence intensity were also not affected after 50 cycles of absorption and luminescence. This study provides a broader development direction for the application of intelligent enhanced energy enrichment of PCM-based on bionic wood construction.