Bamboo Plastic Showed Exceptional Strength

Some researchers have developed a type of strong, biodegradable plastic from bamboo. Called bioplastic, the material resembles oil-based plastics in strength and shapeability.

It’s also claimed to offer better thermal stability. Developed by researchers from China’s Northeast Forestry University, the material can reportedly biodegrade in soil within 50 days. The new product from Northeast Forestry offers a pathway towards sustainable plastic alternatives.

Researchers have revealed that plastics made from organic biomass (such as bamboo composite plastics) have shown promise in replacing traditional oil-based plastics.

Haipeng Yu, Dawei Zhao, and other researchers revealed that they developed a non-toxic, alcohol solvent-based method to dissolve bamboo cellulose down to a molecular level, then direct the cellulose molecules to reassemble and organise into a tough plastic material.

During dissolution, the cellulose is chemically modified to aid the formation of a strong molecular network upon regeneration. The bamboo plastic was tested against several types of widely used commercial plastics (such as polylactic acid and high impact polystyrene) with the bamboo plastic, according to a press release.

Researchers also highlighted that widespread adoption of bamboo composite plastics has been limited by their inferior mechanical properties, meaning they are unable to be used in demanding applications such as infrastructure.

Additionally, bamboo composite plastics are typically composed of bamboo fibres immersed in a plastic or resin, and thus cannot be completely degraded, undermining efforts to find truly sustainable solutions to oil-based plastics, according to researchers.

Published in Nature Communications, the study represents a molecular engineering strategy to fabricate high-strength bamboo molecular plastics (BM-plastics) through a solvent-regulated shaping process. By employing deep eutectic solvents to disassemble bamboo cellulose’s hydrogen-bond network and ethanol-mediated molecular stimulation to reconstruct dense hydrogen-bond interactions.

The research team achieved a bioplastic with exceptional mechanical strength (tensile strength: 110 MPa, flexural modulus: 6.41 GPa), thermal stability (>180 °C), and versatile processability via injection, molding, and machining techniques.

"The BM-plastic outperforms most commercial plastics and bioplastics in mechanical and thermo-mechanical metrics while maintaining full biodegradability in soil within 50 days and closed-loop recyclability with 90% retained strength," said researchers in the study.

The research team revealed that the bamboo plastic also matched or outperformed traditional plastics in tests of mechanical and thermal stability, and shapeability, presenting it as a viable alternative for use in industry.

Additionally, the bamboo plastic can be degraded in soil within 50 days or closed-loop recycled (where objects are recycled and used to remake similar products) whilst retaining 90 percent of its original strength, demonstrating its potential as a sustainable but high-performing alternative to traditional plastic materials, according to details released by researchers.