Bamboo fibers for composite applications: a mechanical and morphological investigation

Bamboo fibers are very promising reinforcements for polymer composites production due to its high aspect ratio and strong mechanical performances. In order to better understand their reinforcing potential, the mechanical properties of single bamboo fibers extracted from eleven commercial bamboo species in China were measured with a newly developed microtensile technique. For comparison, the mechanical properties of mature single Chinese Fir and Masson Pine wood fibers were measured. The results show that the average longitudinal tensile modulus of the eleven kinds of bamboo fibers ranges from 25.5 to 46.3 GPa with an average value of 36.7 GPa. For tensile strength, the value ranges from 1.20 to 1.93 GPa with an average value of 1.55 GPa. The tensile strength and modulus of bamboo fibers are nearly two times of that of single Chinese Fir and Masson Pine fibers, and significantly higher than most of the published data for other softwood fibers. The average elongation at break of bamboo fibers is about 4.84 %, only a little lower than the value 5.15 % of the tested mature softwood fibers. Additionally, bamboo fibers were found to have smaller diameters and larger aspect ratio than most documented wood fibers, which favored an improved reinforcing effect. These combined mechanical and morphological advantages highlight the potential of bamboo fibers as the reinforcing phase in polymer composites for structural purpose.