Copyright WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69469 Weinheim, Germany, 2020.

Supporting Information
for Adv. Mater., DOI: 10.1002/adma.201906308

A Strong, Tough, and Scalable Structural Material

from Fast-Growing Bamboo
Zhihan Li, Chaoji Chen, Ruiyu Mi, Wentao Gan, Jiaqi Dai,
Miaolun Jiao, Hua Xie, Yonggang Yao, Shaoliang Xiao, and
Liangbing Hu*
 A Strong, Tough and Scalable Structural Material from Fast-
Growing Bamboo
Zhihan Li,a Chaoji Chen,a Ruiyu Mi,a Wentao Gan, Jiaqi Dai, Miaolun Jiao, Hua Xie, Yonggang
Yao, Shaoliang Xiao, Liangbing Hu*

Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park,

Maryland, 20742

*
Email: binghu@umd.edu
a
These authors contributed equally to this work.

1
 Supporting information

Figure S1. Morphological evolution of the bamboo upon delignification/densification. (A-C)

Natural bamboo: Optical microscopy image of the cross-section of natural bamboo (A);
magnified SEM image of the parenchyma cells and fiber bundles of the natural bamboo (B);
magnified SEM image of the elementary fibers of the natural bamboo (C). (D-F) Densified
bamboo: SEM cross-sectional image of the densified bamboo (D); magnified SEM image of the
parenchymatous cells and fiber bundles of the densified bamboo (E); magnified SEM image of
the sclerenchyma fibers of the densified bamboo (F).

2
 120
Natural bamboo
100 Densified bamboo
100
Normalized weight (%)

80

60.7
60

40

20

0
Figure S2. Weight change of the bamboo samples after delignification. The densified bamboo
shows a 39.3 wt% decrease due to the partial removal of lignin and hemicellulose.

3
Figure S3. (A) SEM images of the fractured section of natural bamboo, and (B) a magnified
view of the sclerenchymatous cell and (C) natural elementary bamboo fiber. (D) SEM images of
the fractured section of the densified bamboo, and (E) a magnified view of the densified fiber
bundles and (F) cell walls of elementary bamboo fiber.

4
 Natural bamboo
Densified bamboo

Intensity

10 20 30 40 50 60
2θ (degree)
Figure S4. XRD patterns of the natural bamboo and densified bamboo.

5
 40

33.3
30
Distribution (%)

24

20
15.7
12
10 7.9
6.1

1
0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Fiber length (mm)
Figure S5. Length distribution of the delignified bamboo fibers. The average length is 3.48 mm.

6
 40
36.9

Distribution (%)
30
25.3

20 17.7

10 8.3
5.1 4.2
1.7 0.8
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45
Fiber diameter (μm)
Figure S6. Diameter distribution of the delignified bamboo fiber. The average diameter is 12.45
μm.

7
Figure S7. (A) Optical microscopy image of natural bamboo fiber and (B) elementary bamboo
fiber after delignification, (C) SEM image of a magnified view of the delignified bamboo fiber
and (D) the highly aligned cellulose nanofibres.

8
 9.74
10
8.46
Work of fracture(MJ m-3)

8
6.21
6

3.77
4 3.2
2.68
2.31 2.17 2.22
2
1.16

0
oo boo boo boo boo boo ode ode ode ode --
mb
ba b am b am b am b am bam i t hn it hn it hn it hn
tu ral fied out
e r
ute
r
inn
er
inn
e r
oo
w
oo
w
oo
w
oo
w
Na nsi ral id o ral ed mb mb mb mb
De t u ife tu if i b a b a b a ba
Na ns Na ns ner ner ter ute
r
De De a l in d in l ou do
u r if i e r a f i e
Na
t ns Na
tu nsi
De De
Figure S8. Work of fracture of various kinds of bamboo samples. Compared with natural
bamboo samples, the corresponding densified bamboo samples have greatly improved work of
fracture.

9
Figure S9. (A) Photograph of natural bamboo stem, (B) optical image of cross-section of
bamboo stem.

10
Figure S10. (A) Schematic illustration of the bamboo structure. (B) Density distribution in the
inner layer and outer layer of bamboo specimens.

11
Figure S11. (A) Schematic of the tensile tests along the longitudinal direction and tensile stress-
strain curves for the natural inner bamboo and densified inner bamboo samples. (B) The tensile
strength and tensile modulus of the natural inner bamboo and densified inner bamboo.

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Figure S12. (A) Schematic of the tensile tests along the longitudinal direction and tensile stress-
strain curves for the natural bamboo and densified bamboo, each featuring a bamboo node in the
material structure. (B) The tensile strength and tensile modulus of the natural bamboo and
densified bamboo, featuring a bamboo node.

13
Figure S13. (A) Schematic of the tensile tests along the longitudinal direction and tensile stress-
strain curves for natural inner bamboo and densified inner bamboo, each featuring a node. (B)
The tensile strength and tensile modulus of the natural inner bamboo and densified inner bamboo,
featuring a bamboo node.

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Figure S14. (A) Schematic of the tensile tests along the longitudinal direction and tensile stress-
strain curves for natural outer bamboo and densified outer bamboo, each featuring a node. (B)
The tensile strength and tensile modulus of the natural outer bamboo and densified outer bamboo,
featuring a node.

15
 1000
This
work
800
Specific tensile strength

Natural materials Synthetic materials Metals and alloys

(MPa cm3 g1)

600

400

200

0
lk ther ood ood boo ood S te e 6 e 0 s 0 8 ys boo
Sta a AB ona tyren ylon lamid 200 alloy 1950 I 101 allo
Le Softw ardw bam fied w r b s N tha lloy
s g
M lloys l AI S n
te ter b
am
H s i l yca Poly h g s
De
n Po lyp Al a Cu
a e n
Ste Tu ied o
u
Po if
n s
De
Figure S15. Specific tensile strength of the densified outer bamboo (≈800 MPa cm3 g-1)
compared with natural materials, widely used polymer-based materials, and strong metallic
alloys.

16
Figure S16. Photographs of natural bamboo culm (A), natural bamboo strip (B), and densified
bamboo strip (C). Photographs of the bending and recovery process of the natural bamboo strip
(D). Photographs of the bending and recovery process of the densified bamboo strip (E).

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Figure S17. (A) Schematic of the three-point bending test by loading from inner to outer of the
natural and densified inner bamboo. (B) Flexural stress-strain curves of the natural and densified
inner bamboo. (C) The flexural strength and modulus of the natural and densified inner bamboo.

18
Figure S18. Photograph of natural bamboo chip and after the delignification treatment (A, B).
Photograph of natural flattened bamboo and after the delignification treatment (C, D).

19
Figure S19. Schematics of three-point bending test by loading from inner to outer of natural and
densified outer bamboo, each featuring a bamboo node (A). Flexural stress-strain curves of
natural and densified outer bamboo, each featuring a bamboo node (B). Flexural strength and
modulus of natural and densified outer bamboo, each featuring a bamboo node (C).

20
Figure S20. Schematics of three-point bending test by loading from inner to outer of natural and
densified inner bamboo, each featuring a bamboo node (A). Flexural stress-strain curves of
natural and densified inner bamboo, each featuring a bamboo node (B). Flexural strength and
modulus of natural and densified inner bamboo, each featuring a bamboo node (C).

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Table S1. The effect of processing methods on the mechanical properties of engineered bamboo.

Tensile strength (MPa)

Lignin
Treatment Ref.
removal
Before After

Heat treatment in linseed oil No 150 175 [1]

Thermo-hydro-mechanical compression
No 119 240 [2]
combined with steam

Bleach with hydrogen peroxide Yes 153 124 [3]

Heat treatment in tung oil No 123 149 [4]

Filled with epoxy and cold pressed No 177 249 [5]

Resin glued and hot pressed No 120-140 180 [6]

Chemical modification & hot pressing Yes 300 1008 Our work

22
Table S2. The effect of processing methods on the flexural property of engineered bamboo.

Flexural strength
Lignin (MPa)
Treatment Ref.
removal
Before After

Hot pressing No 160 320 [7]

Bleach with hydrogen peroxide Yes 135 76-79 [3]

Viscoelastic thermal compression No 119 180-240 [8]

Thermo-hydro-mechanical compression combined with
No 143 268 [2]
steam
Heat treatment in tung oil No 140 165 [4]
Filled with PF resin and pressed No 165 310 [9]

Glued with emulsion polymer isocyanate No 70 89 [10]

Our
Chemical modification & hot pressing Yes 148 553
work

23
Table S3. Mechanical properties of man-made fiber reinforced polymer composites compared
with densified bamboo.

Tensile strength Flexural strength

(MPa) (MPa)
Matrix Reinforcement Ref
Before After Before After

Polyamide 12 Carbon fiber 46 93 35 125 [11]

Nylon 6 Recycled carbon fiber 55 170 52 240 [12]

Polypropylene Hemp fiber/ Glass fiber 30 52 44 91 [13]

Wood-flour/ HDPE Kevlar fiber 12 20 24 36 [14]

PU/Epoxy UHMWPE fiber 50 81 34 25 [15]

Polypropylene Basalt fiber 28 31 48 65 [16]

Phenolic resin Jute/ Cotter fiber 34 58 86 165 [17]

Polyester resin Snake grass fiber 20 36 28 75 [18]

Poly lactic acid Ramie fiber 45 64 94 170 [19]

Soy protein resin Flax fiber 18 54 22 36 [20]

Epoxy resin Banana fiber - 108 - 71 [21]

Polypropylene Coir fiber 27 30 43 58 [22]

Polyester Sisal fiber 39 76 61 102 [23]

Polypropylene Bamboo fiber 24 50 38 62 [24]

Polypropylene Sugarcane bagasse fiber 27 18 25 19 [25]

Polyvinyl alcohol Cellulose nanofiber 78 185 - - [26]

Our
Densified bamboo 300 1008 148 553
work

24
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