Cellulosic Fibers for Sustainable Functional Textiles and Devices

Abstract

Cellulosic fibers are emerging as sustainable building blocks for high-value functional materials, combining renewable sourcing, low density, and tunable chemistry with scalable spinning routes. A design-to-application framework is used to organize the field, connecting feedstock selection and pretreatment to precursor formulation, spinnability, and multiscale structure formation. Two complementary fiber-spinning strategies are examined: colloidal routes, in which nanocellulose and derivative slurries are assembled into percolated networks, and solution routes, in which cellulose is dissolved in greener solvent systems, and regeneration, drawing, and crystallinity are precisely regulated. Across both approaches, quantitative structural determinants governing processability and performance are distilled, including degree of polymerization, crystallinity, aspect ratio, surface charge, relaxation time, and coagulation kinetics. The roles of flow fields, gelation and phase separation, and post-treatments in dictating orientation, porosity, interfacial coupling, and defect populations are further synthesized. These structure levers define the pathways for mechanical robustness, electrical and ionic transport, thermal conduction and radiation, and responsive behavior. Recent progress is consolidated for electromagnetic interference shielding textiles, flexible and wearable sensors, energy storage and conversion fibers, thermal management and radiative cooling, and biomedical platforms, with emphasis on property targets, device integration, and durability under realistic operating conditions. Finally, key priorities are identified, including standardized spinnability metrics and in-line diagnostics, achieving solvent and reagent circularity, developing data-guided process maps for scale-up, and implementing end-of-life strategies that keep cellulose within a closed-loop system. Collectively, these perspectives are intended to accelerate the transition of spun cellulosic fibers from sustainable alternatives to first-choice materials for next-generation functional textiles and devices.

Graphical Abstract

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