Structure and Mechanical Properties of Wet-Spun Fibers Made from Natural Cellulose Nanofibers

Cellulose nanofibers were prepared by TEMPO-mediated oxidation of wood pulp and tunicate cellulose. The cellulose nanofiber suspension in water was spun into an acetone coagulation bath. The spinning rate was varied from 0.1 to 100 m/min to align the nanofibers to the spun fibers. The fibers spun from the wood nanofibers had a hollow structure at spinning rates of >10 m/min, whereas the fibers spun from tunicate nanofibers were porous. Wide-angle X-ray diffraction analysis revealed that the wood and tunicate nanofibers were aligned to the fiber direction of the spun fibers at higher spinning rates. The wood spun fibers at 100 m/min had a Young's modulus of 23.6 GPa, tensile strength of 321 MPa, and elongation at break of 2.2%. The Young's modulus of the wood spun fibers increased with an increase in the spinning rate because of the nanofiber orientation effect.