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FLOW article published in Angewandte Chemie

Published Oct 10, 2019

FLOW researchers Nitesh Mittal, Korneliya Gordeyeva and Daniel Söderberg along with the collaborators from Wallenberg Wood Science Center at KTH and DESY in Germany have published an article in Angewandte Chemie.

Angewandte Chemie is one of the most prestigious chemistry journals with a history of more than 130 years and an IF of 12.257.

The study discusses the role of tiny ions on the nanoscale networks and porosity of isotropic and anisotropic macrostructures and its implications on the bulk mechanical properties.

Abstract: Designing engineering materials with high stiffness and high toughness is challenging as stiff materials tend to be brittle. Many biological materials realize this objective through multiscale (i.e., atomic‐ to macroscale) mechanisms that are extremely difficult to replicate in synthetic materials. Inspired from the architecture of such biological structures, we here present flow-assisted organization and assembly of renewable native cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs) which yields highly anisotropic biofibers characterized by a unique combination of high strength (1010 MPa), high toughness (62 MJ m-3) and high stiffness (57 GPa). We observed that properties of the fibers are primarily governed by specific ion characteristics such as hydration enthalpy and polarizability. A fundamental facet of this study is thus to elucidate the role of specific anion binding following the Hofmeister series on the mechanical properties of wet fibrillar networks, and link this to the differences in properties of dry nanostructured fibers. This knowledge is useful for rational design of nanomaterials and is critical for validation of specific ion effect theories. The bioinspired assembly demonstrated here is relevant example for designing high-performance materials with absolute structural control.

Article link:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/anie.201910603

Page responsible:Ardeshir Hanifi
Belongs to: FLOW
Last changed: Oct 10, 2019