Tough and Thermal Insulating Cellulose-Based Aerogel Fiber Via Long Fiber-Assisted Interfacial Polyelectrolyte Complexation Spinning

Abstract

Cellulose-based aerogel fibers are recognized as a promising candidate for wearable thermal insulation textiles due to their high porosity, extremely low thermal conductivity, and environmental friendliness. Unfortunately, their practical application in textiles is severely limited by their brittleness. Here, a simple “long fiber-assisted interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation (FAIPC) spinning” technique was proposed for fabricating cellulose-based aerogel fibers with a unique core-shell structure. Such core-shell aerogel fibers show excellent thermal insulation performance (34.3 mW m-1 K-1) and robust mechanical strength (~100 MPa, 31.5 MJ m-3). Accordingly, our strategy provides a new route to design and prepare wearable cellulose-based aerogel fibers and textiles.

Keywords: cellulose-based aerogel fibers, long fiber-assisted interfacial polyelectrolyte complexation (FAIPC) spinning, core-shell structure, Thermal insulation, robust mechanical strength