Cherry Bark Design Turns Cellulose Into Spider Silk-Like Tough Fibers (opens in new tab)

Researchers developed regenerated cellulose fibers inspired by cherry bark’s helical architecture, using microfluidic spinning to create a biaxially oriented structure with spider silk-like toughness. The fibers reached 553 MPa tensile strength, 41% fracture strain, and 184 MJ m?³ toughness, and could be woven into durable fabrics for future sustainable textiles and structural materials.