As the sustainable resource

wood is ideal for indoor and outdoor construction and decoration. However

wood is flammable and greatly influenced by the environment. Modification of wood has long been widely concerned and it is nowadays the common concern of material scientists and chemists to explore environmental-friendly methods of wood modification. Inorganic materials

with the characteristics of non-toxic and simple preparation

can not only keep the environmental merits of the wood to the most degree

but also improve many properties of wood. Sol-gel technique

a wet chemistry approach

was developed two decades ago for the preparation of inorganic materials and their coatings

and can be used for wood modification effectively to obtain wood/inorganic composites. In this review

we give an overview of the mechanism and characters of sol-gel modification of wood and the improvements of wood properties after sol-gel modification

including flame-retardant

antibacterial

water proofness

anti-UV and mechanical properties. We also look into the future trends in the field.