Fire Suppression and Explosion Mitigation: Innovations in Materials and Mechanisms

Dear Colleagues,

Fire suppression and explosion mitigation have become increasingly vital as modern industries, energy systems, transportation networks, and natural ecosystems face growing risks from high-density energy storage, complex materials, and extreme operating conditions. Beyond industrial facilities and underground infrastructures, large-scale forest fires and accidental detonations involving weapons, ammunition, and energetic materials have intensified global concern due to their destructive impacts on human safety, environmental stability, and national security. Advances in materials science, combustion chemistry, and thermal–fluid dynamics have expanded our understanding of ignition behavior, flame spread, heat transfer pathways, and shock-wave evolution across these diverse scenarios. These insights are driving the development of adaptive extinguishing agents, reactive and phase-change materials, intelligent suppression systems, and high-fidelity modeling tools capable of predicting and interrupting hazardous events. As traditional technologies increasingly struggle to address the scale, intensity, and complexity of modern fire and explosion risks, research into innovative materials and mechanisms has become essential for safeguarding infrastructure, ecosystems, and critical safety operations across both civilian and defense contexts.

This Special Issue, “Fire Suppression and Explosion Mitigation: Innovations in Materials and Mechanisms,” aims to highlight recent advances that address escalating fire and explosion risks in industrial, energy, and underground environments. It focuses on innovative suppression materials—such as phase-change composites, environmentally friendly retardants, and multifunctional protective coatings—as well as mechanistic insights into heat transfer, chemical inhibition, multiphase interactions, and shock-wave attenuation. Studies employing advanced diagnostics, high-fidelity simulations, and pilot- or full-scale experiments are particularly welcomed, especially those that bridge fundamental science with practical engineering solutions. The topic aligns closely with the journal’s scope by integrating materials science, thermal engineering, combustion mechanisms, and safety technology to support safer, more resilient, and more sustainable industrial systems. This Special Issue aims to guide researchers toward contributing innovative materials, modeling tools, and mitigation strategies that can transform next-generation fire and explosion protection.

This Special Issue welcomes contributions that advance innovative materials, mechanisms, and technologies for fire suppression and explosion mitigation across industrial, environmental, mining, and energy-related scenarios. Suggested themes include the development of environmentally friendly water-based extinguishing agents, smart adaptive suppressants, phase-change materials, reactive powders, nanostructured additives, and multifunctional protective coatings. Research topics may address multiphase suppression dynamics, chemical inhibition pathways, aerosol–flame and dust–flame interactions, and shock-wave attenuation or optimized venting structures relevant to diverse hazards such as mine fires, energy-system fires, next-generation battery thermal runaway, and large-scale forest fires. Studies on early detection and warning technologies, data-driven hazard prediction, and intelligent or automated suppression systems are also encouraged. Submissions may involve laboratory experimentation, numerical simulation, coupled thermal–fluid–chemical modeling, pilot or full-scale testing, and critical reviews of emerging materials or mechanisms. Work that bridges fundamental science with practical engineering solutions, especially those providing scalable, sustainable strategies for next-generation fire and explosion protection, is particularly suited for this Special Issue.

Dr. Xiaolong Zhu
Dr. Kun He
Dr. Chuanyu Pan
Dr. Yan Tang
Dr. Jiyun Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Fire is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.