In-situ Ceramic Nanoparticle Assembly Within Wood Microstructure For Strong, Tough, And Resilient Ceramic Wood

Author

• Fengyin Du
• Yanpei Tian
• Zhenyuan Niu
• Kangyi Cai
• Junyi Duan
• Haoran Guo
• Ruizhe Yang
• Yuxuan Zhang
• Jazmine Aiya Marquez
• Haoyu Zeng
• Xiaojie Liu
• Qingsheng Wang
• Chengcheng Tao
• Hongyan Ma, Missouri University of Science and TechnologyFollow

Abstract

Increasingly extreme environmental conditions demand structural materials that combine mechanical robustness with sustainability. Natural wood is renewable and mechanically adaptable but suffers from high porosity and hydrophilicity, leading to moisture absorption, fire vulnerability, and environmental degradation. Ceramics provide high stiffness, thermal stability, and chemical resistance but are inherently brittle. Here we report ceramic wood, a composite formed by integrating a natural wood scaffold with uniformly distributed ceramic nanoparticles. A calcium silicate precursor infiltrates the aligned nanofluidic channels of wood and undergoes in-situ self-assembly into calcium silicate hydrate nanoparticles under room-temperature conditions. The resulting ceramic network fills micropores and forms strong interfacial bonding within the wood scaffold. Ceramic wood exhibits high compressive strength, enhanced toughness, excellent fire resistance, and improved durability against moisture, fungi attack, and alkaline environments. CO₂ uptake further reduces the carbon footprint, highlighting ceramic wood as a sustainable structural material for extreme environments.

Recommended Citation

F. Du and Y. Tian and Z. Niu and K. Cai and J. Duan and H. Guo and R. Yang and Y. Zhang and J. A. Marquez and H. Zeng and X. Liu and Q. Wang and C. Tao and H. Ma, "In-situ Ceramic Nanoparticle Assembly Within Wood Microstructure For Strong, Tough, And Resilient Ceramic Wood," Nature Communications, vol. 17, no. 1, article no. 7440, Nature Research, Dec 2026.

The definitive version is available at https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-73601-3

Department(s)

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering

Publication Status

Open Access

Comments

David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Grant None

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

2041-1723

Document Type

Article - Journal

Document Version

Final Version

File Type

text

Language(s)

English

Rights

© 2026 The Authors, All rights reserved.

Creative Commons Licensing

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Publication Date

01 Dec 2026

PubMed ID

42277026