Highly Robust Cellulose Ionotronic Fibers Via Biomimetic Liquid‐Crystalline Spinning for Energy Harvesting and Humidity Sensing

ABSTRACT The rapid advancement of ionotronics has positioned ionic conductive materials as increasingly pivotal elements in the evolution of flexible wearable sensors. However, developing ionotronic fibers with sufficient mechanical robustness and ionic conductivity remains a formidable challenge. This issue primarily arises from the intrinsic predicament in formulating spinning dopes with concurrent high polymer content, high ion concentration, and desirable low spinning viscosity. Inspired by the liquid‐crystalline spinning of natural silk, herein, we fabricated cellulose ionotronic fibers (CIFs) from a nematic cellulose liquid‐crystalline dope. Leveraging the self‐alignment of cellulose chains, the nematic spinning dope exhibits suitable viscosity for stable extrusion even at high polymer concentrations. The resultant CIFs display remarkable mechanical strength (14.6 MPa), toughness (19.74 MJ·m −3 ), extensibility (308.9%), and excellent ionic conductivity (2.38 S·m −1 ). Furthermore, CIFs exhibit prominent stability and superior sensitivity in both triboelectric energy harvesting and humidity response, rendering them highly promising for human motion sensing and respiratory monitoring. In summary, this work offers critical perspectives into the construction of high‐performance and environmentally sustainable flexible ionotronic devices, laying a foundation for the sustainable manufacturing of flexible electronics.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2026-06-29
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.76733
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Highly Robust Cellulose Ionotronic Fibers Via Biomimetic Liquid‐Crystalline Spinning for Energy Harvesting and Humidity Sensing

Shuang Tian, Bin Ding, Fang Wang, Zhaoling Li et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
article

Highly Robust Cellulose Ionotronic Fibers Via Biomimetic Liquid‐Crystalline Spinning for Energy Harvesting and Humidity Sensing

Shuang Tian, Bin Ding, Fang Wang, Zhaoling Li, Mingjuan Du, Qing Liu, Gao Y, Liu X, Qi Tang, Jianyong Yu, Zixu Chang
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT The rapid advancement of ionotronics has positioned ionic conductive materials as increasingly pivotal elements in the evolution of flexible wearable sensors. However, developing ionotronic fibers with sufficient mechanical robustness and ionic conductivity remains a formidable challenge. This issue primarily arises from the intrinsic predicament in formulating spinning dopes with concurrent high polymer content, high ion concentration, and desirable low spinning viscosity. Inspired by the liquid‐crystalline spinning of natural silk, herein, we fabricated cellulose ionotronic fibers (CIFs) from a nematic cellulose liquid‐crystalline dope. Leveraging the self‐alignment of cellulose chains, the nematic spinning dope exhibits suitable viscosity for stable extrusion even at high polymer concentrations. The resultant CIFs display remarkable mechanical strength (14.6 MPa), toughness (19.74 MJ·m −3 ), extensibility (308.9%), and excellent ionic conductivity (2.38 S·m −1 ). Furthermore, CIFs exhibit prominent stability and superior sensitivity in both triboelectric energy harvesting and humidity response, rendering them highly promising for human motion sensing and respiratory monitoring. In summary, this work offers critical perspectives into the construction of high‐performance and environmentally sustainable flexible ionotronic devices, laying a foundation for the sustainable manufacturing of flexible electronics.

Advanced Functional Materials
Donghua University (CN), Suzhou University of Science and Technology (CN)
Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, National Natural Science Foundation of China, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Responsible consumption and production
Openalex Percentile: Top 13%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
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