Natural fiber composites are receiving more and more attention because of their greenness and low cost. Among natural fibers, bamboo is characterized by fast growth, a short cultivation period, high strength and good toughness, and is one of the strongest natural fibers in the world. A bamboo-fiber-reinforced polymer composite (BFRPC) has the characteristics of high mechanical strength, low density, degradability, etc. It has the industrial applicability comparable to metal materials, the same strong corrosion resistance as composites such as glass and carbon fibers, and the same immunity to electromagnetic interference and low thermal conductivity as natural materials. Its unidirectional specific strength and unidirectional specific modulus is higher than that of glass fiber, second only to the extremely high price of carbon fiber, which is playing an increasingly important role in the field of composite materials, and can be widely used in the fields of wind power, construction, aviation, automotive, medical care and so on. At present, it has been initially used in packaging, automotive and transportation fields, and is expected to replace petroleum-based plastics in various fields. In addition to their environmental protection and green production, they have excellent physical properties. This paper provides an overview of the mechanical properties of bamboo-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites and thermoset composites that have been developed so far, such as tensile strength, flexural properties and impact strength. In addition, the prospects of bamboo-fiber-reinforced thermoplastic composites for automotive, packaging and agricultural applications are presented.

A round-the-clock photocatalyst with energy-storage ability has piqued the interest of researchers for removing microbial contaminants from indoor environments. This work presents a moderate round-the-clock method for inhibiting the growth of fungus spores on bamboo materials using Ag-modified TiO₂ thin films. Photoactivated antifungal coating with catalytic memory activity was assembled on a hydrophilic bamboo by first anchoring anatase TiO₂ thin films (TB) via hydrogen bonding and then decorating them with Ag nanoparticles (ATB) via electrostatic interactions. Antifungal test results show that the Ag/TiO₂ composite films grown on the bamboo surface produced a synergistic antifungal mechanism under both light and dark conditions. Interestingly, post-illumination catalytic memory was observed for ATB, as demonstrated by the inhibition of Aspergillus niger (A. niger) spores, in the dark after visible light was removed, which could be attributed to the transfer of photoexcited electrons from TiO₂ to Ag, their trapping on Ag under visible-light illumination, and their release in the dark after visible light was removed. The mechanism study revealed that the immobilized Ag nanoparticles served the role of “killing two birds with one stone”: increasing visible-light absorption through surface plasmon resonance, preventing photogenerated electron–hole recombination by trapping electrons, and contributing to the generation of ●O₂⁻and ●OH. This discovery creates a pathway for the continuous removal of indoor air pollutants such as volatile organic compounds, bacteria, and fungus in the day and night time.

Wood-fiber-mat-reinforced composites (WFMRCs) possess excellent physical and mechanical properties and provide high structural performance, making them a suitable engineering structural material. However, WFMRCs are susceptible to biological attack by fungi and insects when they are used in outdoor environments. In this study, the efficacy of copper triazole (CuAz) preservative treatment in protecting WFMRC against decay by white- and brown-rot fungi (Trametes versicolor and Gloeophyllum trabeum, respectively) was evaluated. Both fungi caused a mass loss in the untreated scrimber of more than 15%, while the CuAz preservative treatment reduced the mass loss to 5%. The measurement results show that CuAz treatment could effectively reduce the degradation rate of three major components of wood; inhibit fungal colonization and degradation; and improve the decay resistance of WFMRC. The atmospheric impregnation of CuAz preservative is more suitable for the material features of WFMRC than vacuum impregnation and can be considered for practical industrial applications. This study provides technical support for the protection and outdoor application of WFMRCs.

The effect of ultraviolet radiation on the surface deterioration of scrimber composites with different densities and levels of resin content was investigated for this paper. The surface color, gloss, roughness, and wettability of the samples were investigated to determine the extent of surface changes due to accelerated ageing. The results indicated that all scrimber composites exhibited variation in the color of their surfaces during artificial xenon light exposure. After artificial accelerated ageing, the surface contact angle and roughness were found to increase, whereas the surface gloss and surface free energy decreased. Furthermore, it was observed that the density and resin content of the scrimber composites contributed to reductions in their color variation, wettability, and roughness during weathering, which suggested that the density and resin content played important roles in determining their surface photodegradation properties. Artificial ageing resulted in the degradation of lignin and hemicellulose, thus causing severe surface characteristics.