Highly-aligned cellulose fibers reinforced epoxy composites derived from bulk natural bamboo

Herein we reported a simple and effective approach to processing bulk natural bamboo directly into a high-performance composite material with high tensile strength, modulus and toughness. Our two-step approach involved the removal of lignin from natural bamboo followed by epoxy infiltration, leading to the complete filling of epoxy into the porous structure of the delignified bamboo with highly aligned cellulose fibers. In contrast to the bulk natural bamboo and the delignified bamboo, the epoxy infiltrated bamboo composite displayed higher dimensional stability against moisture. Furthermore, the as-prepared epoxy infiltrated bamboo composite showed 236% and 136% increase in tensile strength and impact strength, respectively, as compared to the bulk natural bamboo. The simultaneous improvement in strength and toughness makes the epoxy infiltrated bamboo composite highly desirable for structural material applications.