The Separation Mechanism of Bamboo Bundles at Cellular Level

• Published in: Forests Vol. 13; no. 11; p. 1897
• Main Authors: Hao, Xiu, Tian, Xinchi, Li, Shunong, Yang, Chunmei, Yu, Yanglun, Yu, Wenji
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.11.2022
• Subjects: Bamboo; bamboo bundles; cell structure; chemical components; Chemical degradation; Computed tomography; Crack propagation; Cracks; cracks propagation; Field emission microscopy; Lamella; Mechanical properties; mechanical property; Morphology; Nanoindentation; Physiological aspects; Propagation; Scanning electron microscopy; Scanning microscopy; Separation; Steam explosions; Tomography; China; United States > US
• ISSN: 1999-4907; 1999-4907
• DOI: 10.3390/f13111897

Bamboo bundles with linear cracks were produced using mechanical treatments that were more environmentally friendly and more efficient than chemical decomposition and steam explosion. This study presented the separation mechanism by analyzing the structure, micro-mechanical properties and chemical constituent of bamboo bundles at the cellular level. The micro X-ray tomography technology (u-CT) morphology of bamboo and bamboo bundles presented that the separation of bamboo bundles was caused by crack propagation, which was related to the structure of the cell types in bamboo. Field emission scanning microscopy (SEM) was performed to observe the appearance of bamboo bundles at the cellular level, which illustrated that the cracks were prone to grow in the middle lamella (ML) in fiber cells and parenchymal cells. The nanoindentation technique and Raman microscopy was used to illustrate that the middle lamella (ML)with low indentation moduli and high lignin content was the weak structure in bamboo. This is interpreted as how the structure and mechanical properties contributed to the separation of the bamboo.