6月2日的Nature Communicaitons报道了瑞典德国研研究团队的科研成果，一种新方法制备的超强纤维素纤维强度高于钢铁和铝材。新的加工方法把纳米原纤维素平行加工编织成超强的长纤维细丝。
研究人员将细小纳米级别的原纤维素通过小管道浸入水中。左右两边两束垂直于小管道的水射流可以加速原纤维素的流动，外部水流中加入盐使原纤维素相互粘结在一起形成长丝结构，这种湿润的纤维长丝在空气中经过几分钟的干燥后收缩形成超强的纤维。这种方法制备的显微并不会破坏纳米原纤维的结构，保持了原有原纤维素的结构，所以制造的超强纤维长丝可生物降解，与人体组织有生物相容性。整个工艺流程，可以通过X-ray检测纳米纤维素在不同阶段的构象。研究人员希望今后制造出更长的超强人造纤维，而且原料纳米纤维素可以从回收废纸中获取或者其它回收材料。
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DOI:10.1038/ncomms5018
标题：Hydrodynamic alignment and assembly of nanofibrils resulting in strong cellulose filaments
作者：Karl M. O. Håkansson and so on
摘要：Cellulose nanofibrils can be obtained from trees and have considerable potential as a building block for biobased materials. In order to achieve good properties of these materials, the nanostructure must be controlled. Here we present a process combining hydrodynamic alignment with a dispersion–gel transition that produces homogeneous and smooth filaments from a low-concentration dispersion of cellulose nanofibrils in water. The preferential fibril orientation along the filament direction can be controlled by the process parameters. The specific ultimate strength is considerably higher than previously reported filaments made of cellulose nanofibrils. The strength is even in line with the strongest cellulose pulp fibres extracted from wood with the same degree of fibril alignment. Successful nanoscale alignment before gelation demands a proper separation of the timescales involved. Somewhat surprisingly, the device must not be too small if this is to be achieved.