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High-strength, dimensionally-stable, moisture-absorbing, and heat-insulating materials are critical for ensuring the safety of building structures and human comfort. As a natural moisture-adjusting and heat-insulating material, wood is widely used in buildings, but its low strength and flammability pose safety hazards. This paper reports a simple method to construct an organic-inorganic hyperbranched structure in poplar wood (W Si-Al-EP). The bending and compressive strength of W Si-Al-EP reached 103.50 MPa and 80.41 MPa, respectively. This composite wood material exhibited high strength and stable performance, and it also improved the shortcomings of traditional inorganic-modified materials such as unstable sizes and the loss of modifiers. Moreover, the material did not burn in a long-term high-temperature flame, indicating its heat and combustion resistance, and showing that it can be used in wooden building structures. [Display omitted] • A method for preparing organic-inorganic hyperbranched structure in wood (W Al-Si-EP). • W Al-Si-EP has high strength and good dimensional stability. • W Al-Si-EP has strong thermal stability and flame resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The long-term flexural creep properties of graded hierarchical bamboo are important to structural design in civil construction. The present study conducted the short-term flexural creep tests at a series of temperature (30–170 °C) and stress (7–15 MPa) conditions, for the bamboo from both inner and outer parts. The application of time-temperature superposition principle (TTSP) and time-temperature-stress superposition principle (TTSSP) was analyzed for the creep behavior of bamboo with regard to hierarchical structure. The results confirmed the feasibility of TTSP and TTSSP in flexural creep of bamboo by horizontal shifting. A creep model based on Findley power law was successfully employed to predict the flexural creep response of bamboo. Additionally, the sample from inner part of bamboo displayed a more pronounced flexible creep response compared with the sample from outer part, attributing a low fiber volume fraction in inner part due to bamboo growth strategy. The findings in this study broaden the knowledge of bamboo rheology, and is helpful for further work on the bamboo growth strategy effect on mechanical properties. • Time-temperature-stress equivalence was verified for hierarchical structural bamboo. • Creep model was developed to predict the creep evolution of bamboo. • The hierarchical creep of bamboo associated with fiber distribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]