Successful fabrication of the gel can prevent forest fires

Usually, only when forest fires have spread do firefighters be present to put out the fire or create a belt to minimize damage . A team of researchers sought to halt that process before it started.

Scientists and engineers from Stanford University, USA, recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on creating a gel-like liquid that can spray into areas at risk of fire. . Cellulose- based fluid, a water-insoluble polymeric compound, can act as a flame retardant. Previously, traditional fire-fighting applications only worked for a short time, but the strength of the gel is that it can survive through rain and wind to prevent fires during a season.

An area of ​​grass burns as soon as it catches fire (on the left), while fire does not catch on the area where the grass sprayed with gel (right).

"This has the potential to make firefighting in the wild much more active," said Eric Appel, professor of materials science and engineering at Stanford University .

Intense fires have spread throughout California and other parts of the world in recent years. Scientists found that in California, 84% of the 305,000 fires over the past decade started on the roadside, where a cigarette was thrown out a car window or a hot car had to cross the road. Can easily burn hay.

Fires can happen again and again in the same area from year to year, Professor Eric Appel said. There is a four mile stretch in California, each year there are 35 to 40 fires. Other 'hotspots' include campsites and areas under power lines, where the fire destroyed the town of Paradise, California, a year ago, killing 85 people, caused by a power transmission line that caused the fire. Dry, hot vegetation. The team is working with the California government to test gels in roadside areas that could be vulnerable to wildfires.

Fire retardant gels have been described as "benign to the environment". Researchers experimented with sprinkling gel on grass and setting fire, the fire quickly extinguished. The new research could become a powerful new tool to prevent wildfires, which are becoming an increasingly hot topic as climate change and drought weather become more and more intense.

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