Metal-Assisted Injection Spinning of Ultra Strong Fibers from Megamolecular LC Polysaccharides.

The molecular orientation of liquid crystalline (LC) hydrogels has the potential to induce a range of functionalities that can deliver great mechanical strength. Sacran is a supergiant LC polysaccharide isolated from the cyanobacterium Aphanothece sacrum with a high amount of anionic functional groups such as sulfates and carboxylates. In this article, ultra-strong sacran hydrogels and their dried fibers were produced by cross-linking under injection flow with trivalent metal ions such as Al 3+ , Cr 3+ , Fe 3+ , In 3+ , and rare-earth metal ions such Er 3+ and Sr 3+ . Crossed-polarizing microscopy and X-ray diffraction imaging revealed a uniaxial molecular orientation in the LC gel fiber, resulting in outstanding mechanical characteristics.