A common
method for reducing carbon emissions and the load-bearing
pressure of buildings, and while also achieving improved energy conservation
is to prepare porous magnesium-based lightweight composites to reduce
waste and environmental hazards. However, due to internal stress,
the pores of traditional lightweight composites crack easily and collapse,
resulting in composites that are brittle with poor water resistance.
These materials cannot achieve both low density and high strength,
which limits their application in advanced functional materials. Thus,
learned from nature, inspired by swallow’s nest, a solution
has been proposed, which is a simple and fast chemical arrangement
and assembly method. Using bamboo scraps as the supporting framework
and methylcellulose (MC) molecular chains as the templates, 5-phase
crystals are grown and arranged on the MC. These crystals are arranged
on the bamboo scraps by chemical means with MC acting as a bridge.
At the same time, using the high viscosity and flexibility of the
vinyl acetate/ethylene (VAE) copolymer emulsion and the formation
of magnesium acetate chelate from VAE and hydration products, crystals
and bamboo scraps can be assembled. Through these organic–inorganic
copolymers, an intercalated and integrated biomimetic swallow nest
structure is formed. The biomimetic swallow nest structure composites
(BSNSC) imitated the formation process of a natural swallow nest.
It is a lightweight material with a thick wall, low connectivity rate,
and regular shape. Its density is 0.42 g/cm3, which is
still in the density class of ultralight inorganic foam materials,
and its compressive strength reaches 6.5 MPa, three times that of
ordinary composites. The structure has a strength-to-weight ratio
3.5 times that of ordinary composites and a thermal conductivity much
lower than of other thermal insulation materials. In the future, this
type of lightweight composites with high strength, high heat insulation,
and low density not only functions as a good energy-saving material
for buildings but also a good thermal insulation material in the aerospace
field.