Electrospinning Machine| Integrationofhighstrength, flexibility, and room- temperature plasticityinceramic nanofibers

Challenge: Under high-frequency vibration, mechanical shock or repeated torsion, traditional ceramic materials struggle to simultaneously achieve high strength, large bending strain, and even plastic deformation. While ceramic nanofibers (CNFs) offer a potential solution, precise microstructure modulation, cross-scale defect reduction, and overcoming intrinsic contradictions between mechanical properties remain challenging, making the ideal mechanical performance integration in CNFs yet to be realized.

Approach: Professor Ding Bin and Professor Liu Yitao from Donghua University first synthesized an inorganic molecular chain with linear structure, and used it for spinning to create flexible/elastic ceramic nanofibers, achieving comprehensive enhancement of various mechanical properties.

Innovation 1: Through interface-induced nucleation and a newly designed template-free electrospinning method, a unique DP structure was achieved, reducing nanocrystal aggregation, increasing internal interfaces, and eliminating fiber defects, thereby fully leveraging the synergistic advantages of dual-phase configuration and multiple deformation mechanisms.

Innovation 2: Using typically brittle and low-strength TiO2 as a proof-of-concept model, in-situ single-nanofiber mechanical tests demonstrated exceptional flexibility, strength (~1.06 GPa), strain limit (~8.44%), and room-temperature plastic deformation.
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-025-58240-4