Fuse nanoparticles of cellulose in a tight matrix and you’ll end up with paper that’s tougher than cast iron. Professor Lars Berglund at the Swedish Royal Institute of Technology in Stokholm made the discovery while searching for a better use of cellulose, the most abundant plant material on the planet. Currently, most cellulose is used to make paper products or as filler in other materials. It’s the stuff that gives plant cells their structure, long sugar molecules that form durable cell walls.

Processing cellulose usually turns it to mush, which is why your typical strong man can tear a phone book in two without breaking a sweat. Berglund developed a gentle process that uses enzymes and a mechanical beater to ease cellulose molecules out of wood pulp. The pristine cellulose forms extremely strong hydrogen bonds when dried, giving the material a tensile strength of about 214 megapascals. That’s greater than cast iron (130 MPa) and not far off from structural steel (250 MPa). Compare that to run-of-the-mill paper, which has a tensile strength of less than 1 MPa.

No word on potential uses for the material, but it could turn out to be the best renewable building material yet discovered.

Link to NewScientist article.