Facile fabrication of high-strength biocomposite through Mg2+-enhanced bonding in bamboo fiber
Shengbo Ge,
Guiyang Zheng,
Yang Shi,
Zhongfeng Zhang,
Abdullatif Jazzar,
Ximin He,
Saddick Donkor,
Zhanhu Guo,
Ding Wang,
Ben Bin Xu
Affiliations
Shengbo Ge
Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Guiyang Zheng
Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Yang Shi
Co-Innovation Center of Efficient Processing and Utilization of Forest Resources, College of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanjing Forestry University, Nanjing 210037, China
Zhongfeng Zhang
College of Furniture and Art Design, Central South University of Forestry and Technology, Changsha, Hunan 410004, China; Corresponding authors.
Abdullatif Jazzar
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA
Ximin He
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA; Corresponding authors.
Saddick Donkor
Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
Zhanhu Guo
Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
Ding Wang
Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK
Ben Bin Xu
Department of Mechanical and Construction Engineering, Northumbria University, Newcastle Upon Tyne, NE1 8ST, UK; Corresponding authors.
The emerging interests in high-performance biocomposites grows significantly driven by their superior environmental sustainability. This study proposes a unique biocomposite strategy by implementing an acetic and ball-milled treatment to disrupt the bamboo cell wall structure, thereby facilitating further processing by effectively increasing the active sites and specific surface area in the bamboo fiber. The fibers are subsequently carboxymethylated to introduce carboxyl groups which facilitate physical bonding between the fibers and Mg2+ ions that are added to the system. These ions form metal-coordination bonds with the carboxyl groups, acting as ion bridges that significantly strengthen the inter-fiber bonding. The resulted biocomposite exhibits impressive mechanical properties, including a high tensile strength (94.24 MPa) and flexural strength (104.14 MPa), not only that, changes in elastic modulus also highlight changes in fiber bonding, the flexural modulus is 21.29 GPa and the tensile modulus is 7.01 GPa. Moreover, it maintains a low water uptake capacity of only 6.8 % despite being submerged for 12 h. The thermal conductivity and fire retardancy have also been improved. The synergic bonding ability between the cellulose and lignin in the fibers, coupled with the glue-free thermoforming process, enhances the material performance and renders it fully recyclable, thus reducing environmental pollution and providing cost-effective engineering materials to society.
