Reinforcing the mechanical properties of bamboo fiber/low density polyethylene composites with modified bamboo-woven structure

In order to improve the environmental problems caused by the extensive use of plastics, this paper introduced a new strategy to add and modify the physical structure, which could not only reduce the use of plastics, but also improve the mechanical properties of bamboo plastic composites. In this work, the bamboo-woven structure was introduced into the bamboo fiber/low density polyethylene (LDPE) composites to enhance the mechanical properties. Besides, to enhance the interfacial compatibility, maleic anhydride (MA) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were used to modify LDPE and bamboo-woven structure, respectively. The mechanical properties of the prepared PVA-bamboo-woven structure/bamboo fiber/MA-LDPE composites were greatly improved. The bamboo plastic composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy, water contact angle (WCA) test and mechanical property test. The results showed that the bamboo-woven structure/bamboo fiber/MA-LDPE composite has superior properties at 45% bamboo fiber content. The tensile strength reached to 33.842 MPa, which was increased by 65.01% compared to the bamboo fiber/MA-LDPE composites, and the bending strength reached to 36.6585 MPa increased by 81.46% in relation to the bamboo fiber/MA-LDPE composites. In addition, even a large number of hydrophilic bamboo fibers and bamboo-woven structure were carried by the composites, a good hydrophobicity was still maintained and the WCA reached to 93.71°. The composites with excellent mechanical properties and hydrophobicity provided a reference for the use of bamboo fibers in environmentally friendly packaging materials.