INS11-1069
Assembly of Colloidal Polymer Fibril to Ultrastrong Fibers
Topic
S11. PMSE–PSK50 Anniversary Symposium: Advancing Polymer Science for a Sustainable and Intelligent Future
When and Where
Sep 30, 2026
15:25 - 15:50
Room 110
Session Chairs
Gregory PETERSON
Presenter(s)
TAE HEE HAN (Hanyang University)
Co-Author(s)
Abstract
Rigid-chain polymers that self-assemble into anisotropic colloidal fibrils offer a route to hierarchical, high-strength materials, yet translating their nanoscale order into macroscale fibers remains difficult due to the entropic penalty of aligning high-aspect-ratio chains into compact, load-bearing structures. This barrier often causes misalignment, voids, and poor inter-fiber cohesion in synthetic analogues of biological materials such as spider silk, cellulose, and collagen. In this talk, I will present a scalable strategy for producing high-strength thread from poly(2,2′-disulfonyl-4,4′-benzidine terephthalamide) (PBDT), a rigid-chain aramid that forms double-helical supramolecular units which further organize into colloidal nanofiber networks in aqueous dispersion. Continuous PBDT threads are fabricated via wet-spinning while retaining the solution-phase double-helix structure, enabling production over hundreds of meters. A subsequent hydro-torsional compaction step promotes densification and enhances inter-fiber contact, yielding compact, aligned fibers with improved structural coherence and efficient interfacial load transfer. The resulting threads exhibit a tensile strength of 1.2 GPa and a Young's modulus of 103 GPa — 5.8-fold and 6.3-fold improvements over bulk PBDT films, respectively — with strength approaching that of spider silk. I will discuss how dispersion, phase behavior, and torsional assembly of colloidal polymer fibrils govern the formation of hierarchically ordered, ultrastrong fibers, and how this framework can guide the design of next-generation aligned, high-performance fiber materials.
