Researchers construct molecular nanofibers that are stronger than steel

Amazing stuff! This fascinating research appears to be at very early stages of practical relevance.

"... that can be accomplished when a dense network of strong hydrogen bonds join the molecules together. “That’s what gives a material like Kevlar — constructed of so-called ‘aramids’ — its chemical stability and strength ...
This finding led the authors to wonder if the nanoribbons could be bundled to produce stable macroscopic materials. ... a strategy whereby aligned nanoribbons were pulled into long threads that could be dried and handled. ... showed that the threads could hold 200 times their own weight and have extraordinarily high surface areas — 200 square meters per gram of material. "This high surface-to-mass ratio offers promise for miniaturizing technologies by performing more chemistry with less material ..."

"... Here we show a small-molecule platform, the aramid amphiphile, that overcomes these dynamic instabilities by incorporating a Kevlar-inspired domain into the molecular structure. Strong, anisotropic interactions between aramid amphiphiles suppress molecular exchange and elicit spontaneous self-assembly in water to form nanoribbons with lengths of up to 20 micrometres. Individual nanoribbons have a Young’s modulus of 1.7 GPa and tensile strength of 1.9 GPa. We exploit this stability to extend small-molecule self-assembly to hierarchically ordered macroscopic materials outside of solvated environments. ... This bottom-up approach to macroscopic materials could benefit solid-state applications historically inaccessible by self-assembled nanomaterials."

Researchers construct molecular nanofibers that are stronger than steel | MIT News | Massachusetts Institute of Technology Self-assembly of Kevlar-inspired molecules leads to structures with robust properties, offering new materials for solid-state applications.

Here is the link to the underlying research article:

Self-assembly of aramid amphiphiles into ultra-stable nanoribbons and aligned nanoribbon threads (behind paywall)