I developed a lightweight, high-strength nano-cellulose bionic structural material
Latest discoveries and innovations
Science and Technology Daily News (Reporter Wu Changfeng Correspondent Yang Fan) A reporter recently learned from the University of Science and Technology of China that the team of academician Yu Shuhong successfully developed a class of high-performance natural nano-cellulose structural materials whose density is only one sixth of that of steel The specific strength and specific toughness surpass traditional alloy materials, ceramics and engineering plastics. This new type of all-biomass bionic structural material is expected to replace the existing engineering plastics and has a wide range of application prospects. Related research results were published in the journal "Science Progress".
Aerospace and other fields continue to put forward new demands for engineering structural materials, and the development of new lightweight and high-strength materials that fully exceed traditional structural materials such as engineering plastics, ceramics and metal materials has important strategic significance for practical applications in related fields.
The study found that the lightweight, high-strength characteristics of this material mainly come from the design of the micro-layered structure of the material and the nano three-dimensional network structure. The high degree of crystallization inside the cellulose nanofibers can provide extremely high strength. The fibers are combined through a large number of hydrogen bonding and other reversible interaction networks. Under the action of external forces, this high-density reversible interaction network can quickly dissociate and reconstruct Absorb a lot of energy, so that the material has high strength while achieving high toughness, which overcomes the problem that traditional structural materials are difficult to have both high strength and high toughness. In addition, this material has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion. Even if the temperature fluctuates at 100 ° C, its dimensional change is within five ten thousandths, far superior to aviation alloy materials and engineering plastics, only one fifth of aviation aluminum alloys, engineering plastics. A few tenths, close to ceramics. In addition, the mechanical properties and dimensions are still highly stable under repeated severe thermal shock cycle tests between 120 ° C and -196 ° C. Under the high-speed impact equivalent to a high-speed car, the material shows ultra-high compressive strength, which is expected to be an alternative to alloys.
This sustainable new natural nanofiber bionic structural material integrates excellent properties such as light weight, high strength, high dimensional stability, thermal shock resistance, impact resistance, and high damage tolerance. Materials, precision instrument structural parts and other fields have broad application prospects.