The production of sustainable and high-performance fabrics requires high mechanical strength of the individual (staple) fibers. Although Ioncell fibers already exhibit higher fiber strength than commercial man-made cellulose fibers or cotton fibers, we further aimed to increase both strength and toughness to gradually approach synthetic fibers in these properties. Decisive factors for the achievable mechanical properties of the fibers were the pulp purity, the cellulose concentration in the spinning solution and length-to-diameter (L/D) ratio of the cylindrical part of the spinneret. The absence of low molecular weight fractions in combination with an increased average molecular weight had the highest impact on the achievement of both high strength and toughness. Using a spinneret with a high L/D ratio, it was possible to spin Ioncell fibers with a tensile strength of 925 MPa (61.5 cN/tex) and a modulus of toughness of 83.3 MPa (55.5 J/g). According to a fluid dynamic simulation, uniformly longer molecular cellulose chains in combination with a longer cylindrical capillary promoted an effective alignment of the cellulose molecules inside the spinneret capillary before entering the airgap, thus creating the conditions for a simultaneous increase in tensile strength and elongation i.e. toughness of the fiber. Mechanistically, high fiber toughness is caused by the structural parameters in longitudinal direction, in particular by a higher tilt angle, a longer periodicity of the lamellar plane and lower micro void orientation. In summary, we have developed lyocell-type fibers with high strength and toughness, which can potentially be used as a surrogate for synthetic fibers.

Graphic abstract