The University of Science and Technology of China develops bionic nanofiber composites

Recently, the research team of Professor Shuhong Yu from the University of Science and Technology of China has successfully developed a strong and tough macro-scale cellulose-based nanocomposite fiber material that has solved the strength and toughness of artificial materials.

High-performance nanocomposites based on biomass sources are gradually becoming ideal materials for future structural and functional applications.

Research reveals that these typical biological structural materials have some commonalities: they are all natural nanocomposites, composed of highly oriented high-strength nanofiber units wrapped in a softer organic matrix, and have a highly ordered multi-level spiral winding.

Based on this, the researchers used high-strength bacterial nanocellulose as the reinforcing element, sodium alginate biomacromolecule as the organic matrix, and solution-spinning the composite aqueous solution of the two to obtain a single-oriented macroscopic structure with a preliminary increase in tensile strength.

Subsequently, through the multi-stage spiral winding structure design, they obtained a macroscopic artificial fiber material with similar biological fiber structure characteristics.