Preparation of bamboo-epoxy resin materials with microwave assistance
Zhu Liu, Shoulu Yang, Zhongwei Wang, Ning Ji, Dan Li, Yiqiang Wu
Abstract
Delignification is an effective pretreatment for new bamboo materials. The process creates pores in the wood and renders it more stable. Herein we propose a bamboo-epoxy resin composite material with enhanced strength and stability. The natural bamboo was first delignified and impregnated with resin, after which it was cured rapidly and allowed to contract after microwave heating to form a dense and uniform bamboo-epoxy resin composite material. The effects of different delignification times on the performance of the bamboo-epoxy resin were investigated. The composite material showed superior stability compared with natural bamboo. After 8 h of delignification, the flexural strength and compressive strength along the grain of the bamboo-epoxy resin had increased by 80.9% and 42.9%, respectively. This eco-friendly approach to creating high-performance material is useful for the fabrication of structural materials.