Professor Zhao Dawei from LRCM and the Team Led by Professor Yu Haipeng from Northeast Forestry University Have Jointly Published Their Research Findings in Nano Letters

Fibers have evolved alongside human civilization. Ranging from natural cellulose-based cotton fibers to man-made petrochemical-based nylon fibers, they have been widely applied in fields such as daily life, aerospace, and healthcare. The production of biomass fibers involves processes like twisting and weaving of short fiber fluffs, yet these fibers suffer from drawbacks including insufficient mechanical properties and unstable structures. In contrast, solvent spinning technology can overcome the limitations of raw material size, enabling the production of high-performance, dyeable functional cellulose fibers. How to achieve efficient dissolution, ordered assembly, and performance enhancement of cellulose in green solvent systems remains a core issue urgently to be addressed in this field.

Study on Molecular Assembly Design and Properties of Functional Cellulose Fibers

Recently, Professor Zhao Dawei from our university and the team led by Professor Yu Haipeng from Northeast Forestry University successfully developed a type of Regenerated Cellulose Formate Filament Fiber (RCFF) with ultra-strong mechanical properties and green sustainability using the Green Deep Eutectic Solvent (DES) system. Through an innovative molecular orientation-cross-linking assembly strategy, combined with dry-jet wet spinning technology and the DES system, this study realized the efficient molecularization and in-situ esterification of cellulose at room temperature, breaking through the technical bottlenecks of traditional viscose fibers (low strength) and Lyocell fibers (proneness to fibrillation). The resulting RCFF exhibits a tensile strength of up to 1.02 GPa and a toughness of 44.08 MJ m⁻³, outperforming commercial polyamide, polyester, and regenerated cellulose fibers. It also demonstrates excellent spinnability, weavability, and dyeability, showing broad industrialization prospects. The related research findings were published in Nano Letters under the title “Super-Robust Cellulose Rayon Filaments Engineered via Molecular Orientation-Cross-linking Assembly”. Professors Yu Haipeng and Xia Qinqin from Northeast Forestry University, and Professor Zhao Dawei from Shenyang University of Chemical Technology serve as the co-corresponding authors of the paper.