Researchers at Zhejiang University produced graphene fibres reaching a tensile strength of 5.9 gigapascals and thermal conductivity up to 1,720 watts per metre-kelvin, according to a peer-reviewed paper in Nature Materials.
The team relied on ultrahigh-ratio draw spinning, drawing the material up to a ratio of 11 before applying high-temperature annealing. The technique exploits the polymer-like viscoelasticity displayed by two-dimensional sheets suspended in viscous solvents such as glycerol. As the fibre stretches, crumpled graphene oxide sheets flatten and align, eliminating packing voids and surface wrinkles to create a dense, ordered internal structure.
Fibre measurements showed a Young's modulus of 963 gigapascals and an electrical conductivity of 1.3 megasiemens per metre. Nature Materials reported that the performance figures surpass those of most existing strong, thermally conductive fibres. The authors identified aerospace parts, automotive assemblies, thermal management devices, and energy systems as primary applications for the macroscopic structures.
Co-lead authors Senping Liu, Jinhe Wang, and Yiwei Zhang carried out the experiments and simulations alongside colleagues in Hangzhou, China. The research received funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the National Key Research and Development Program of China before its publication on August 28, 2026.
Structural analysis utilized small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering at beamline BL16B1 of the Shanghai Synchrotron Radiation Facility. To assess sheet behavior under flow, the researchers ran dissipative particle dynamics simulations, releasing their custom software package on Zenodo under a public digital object identifier.
