Wildfire prevention through prophylactic treatment of high-risk landscapes using viscoelastic retardant fluids

Abstract

SignificanceDespite strong fire prevention efforts, every year wildfires destroy millions of acres of forest. While fires are necessary for a healthy forest ecology, the vast majority are human-caused and occur in high-risk areas such as roadsides and utilities infrastructure. Yet, retardant-based treatments to prevent ignitions at the source are currently impossible with existing technologies, which are only suited for reactive fire prevention approaches. Here we develop a viscoelastic carrier fluid for existing fire retardants to enhance retention on common wildfire-prone vegetation through environmental exposure and weathering. These materials enable a prophylactic wildfire prevention strategy, where areas at high risk of wildfire can be treated and protected from ignitions throughout the peak fire season.

Modulation of injectable hydrogel properties for slow co‐delivery of influenza subunit vaccine components enhance the potency of humoral immunity

“… 14,16,31‐35 The HPMC‐C 12 polymer adsorbs onto the PEG–PLA NPs, forming multivalent and dynamic non‐covalent interactions that constitute the physical cross‐links of the hydrogel structure (Figure 1(a)). 36 The simplicity of the PNP hydrogel synthesis via simple mixing, performed here with an elbow mixer or spatula, allows for ease of production and potential for large scale fabrication of PNP hydrogels with consistent mechanical and structural properties 17,37 . This platform is also highly tunable in physical properties by changing the ratio of HPMC‐C 12 to NP to an aqueous solution.…”

Physical networks from entropy-driven non-covalent interactions

“…P hysically crosslinked networks instill many natural and synthetic materials with function-critical properties otherwise unobtainable with static covalent networks [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14] . As an engineering motif, physical networks have provided continued utility for drug delivery [3][4][5][6][15][16][17][18] , biomaterials 7,[19][20][21][22] , wearable electronics [11][12][13]23,24 , and 3D printing [25][26][27] on account of their distinct dynamic and stimuli-responsive properties. While these materials are often required to exhibit precise mechanical properties over a range of operating temperatures such that thermal responsiveness must be considered in their design, they typically weaken (i.e., become more liquid-like, soften, and relax stress faster) with increasing temperature.…”

No evidence of suitability of prophylactic fluids for wildfire prevention at landscape scales

“…Yu et al (1) propose a viscoelastic fluid as a prophylactic fire-retardant treatment in landscapes at high risk of wildfires. We argue that, while the idea is worth exploring further, their data do not support its suitability for real landscape-scale applications.…”

“…Projected increases of both severe fire weather and wildland-urban population growth in California, and in many regions worldwide, call for fire research and management communities to collaboratively provide society with tools to safely coexist with fire (9). While research on alternative mitigation treatments, such as that presented by Yu et al (1), is essential, their application should not be promoted without a proper evaluation of effectiveness, environmental impact, practical and economic feasibility, and without considering their usefulness in comparison-and integration-with conventional fuel treatments and fire prevention approaches whose costs and benefits are already well understood (6,10).…”