Biodegradable fire-fighting formulation

An ambiently degradable aqueous gel formulation comprising:

• (a) water;
• and
• (b) a water-absorbent, ambiently degradable co-polymer having
• (i) a first repeating, ambiently degradable base structure being formed of n first building blocks, each first building block having a carboxyl ion moiety (—COO−) and a first carbonyl moiety, (—CO—) the first base structure being represented by:
• (ii) a second repeating, ambiently degradable base structure being formed of n second building blocks, each second building block having a carboxyl moiety (—COOH) and a second carbonyl moiety (—CO—), the second base structure being represented by:
• wherein functional groups R and R1 in said base structures are alkyl groups independently selected at each instance from the family consisting of methyl (CH3), ethyl (C2H5), and propyl (C3H7) groups,
• the value of n in said first and second repeating base structures being selected such that the molecular weight of said co-polymer is than 50 000 Daltons(Da);
• wherein each of the n building blocks of said first repeating base structure is crosslinked to a corresponding second building block of said second repeating base structure, via an ambiently biodegradable crosslinking structure, by means of at least two of:
• said carboxyl ion and said first and second carbonyl moieties,
• wherein said water is absorbed within said degradable copolymer,
• and wherein the gel formulation has a viscosity in a range of 500 cps to 50,000 cps.