Hygrothermal aging properties, molding and abrasion resistance of bamboo keyboard

Bamboo keyboards made from bamboo panels are exposed to the influence of mold infection, hygrothermal environment and repeated wear. Mold resistance and hygrothermal aging properties of bamboo keyboard under different treatments were investigated. The abrasion resistance was experimentally studied and compared between bamboo keyboard and plastic keyboard. The results indicated that the bamboo keyboard treated with H₂O₂ exhibited the best mold resistance, followed by that treated with varnish, and then came the ones with mildew preventive treatment and the control specimens. Although hardly visible to the naked eye after 4 weeks of mold infection test, mold was observed on most plastic keyboards through microscopic examination. For aging test, the shrinkage ratio of bamboo keystroke was 0.34, 0.46 and 0.62 % after high and low temperature (HLT) treatment, while the swelling ratio was 0.01, 1.14 and 1.93 % after constant temperature and humidity (CTH) treatment, respectively. Similar trend in the ratio of dimensional change was observed in terms of both drying shrinkage and hydroscopic swelling: thickness direction > perpendicular-to-grain direction > grain direction. By manual observation, the bamboo keyboard had an advantage over plastic keyboards in terms of the adaptability to an environment of changing temperature. For abrasion test, the wear point of bamboo keyboard was 650 r and that of plastic 150 r indicating that bamboo keyboards performed better in terms of abrasion resistance than plastic ones.