Methyl cellulose (MC) is a semiflexible cellulose ether derivative with a wide range of industrial applications, owing to its water solubility at low temperatures and thermoreversible gelation upon heating. The gelation mechanism of aqueous MC solutions has been debated for many years. However, in 2010, gelation was discovered to be concurrent with fibril formation upon heating, whereby the MC polymer chains self-assemble into fibrils with a remarkably consistent mean diameter, largely independent of polymer concentration, molecular weight, and temperature of gelation. This discovery has shed important light on the gelation mechanism, and initiated studies that lead to more intriguing questions about the fibrils themselves. This review emphasizes various developments since the discovery of fibril formation, while highlighting unanswered questions that require further investigation.

甲基纤维素（MC）是半柔性​​纤维素醚衍生物，由于其在低温下的水溶性和加热时的热可逆凝胶化作用，因此在工业上具有广泛的用途。MC水溶液的胶凝机理已经争论了很多年。但是，在2010年，发现凝胶化与加热时的原纤维形成同时发生，由此MC聚合物链自组装成具有明显一致的平均直径的原纤维，很大程度上独立于聚合物浓度，分子量和凝胶化温度。这一发现为凝胶化机制提供了重要的启示，并启动了研究，引发了有关原纤维本身的更多有趣问题。这篇综述着重介绍了自从发现原纤维形成以来的各种发展，