The
objective of this study is to convert bamboo into a transparent
material with great optical transmittance and good strength. Bamboo
has a much faster regeneration rate than wood, but its high density
and high extractive content make it challenging to produce transparent
products. This study presents a simple and effective approach that
could address this challenge. Pretreatment of bamboo with low concentration
sodium hydroxide greatly improved the preparation efficiency of transparent
bamboo. The transparent bamboo with a thickness of 1 mm and cellulose
volume fraction of 22% made from the pretreated bamboo exhibited an
improved total optical transmissivity up to 80%, which was 60% higher
than that of untreated bamboo. Compared to transparent wood (TW),
although the transmissivity of transparent bamboo was slightly lower,
its mechanical strength was almost doubled. Besides, the developed
transparent bamboo exhibited a low heat conductivity of 0.203 W m–1 K–1, being about 10% lower than
that of TW (0.225 W m–1 K–1) and
approximately 80% lower than that of common glass material (0.974
W m–1 K–1). The transparent bamboo
would significantly enhance energy-saving performance, being a promising
alternative to traditional glass.
SynopsisUncrosslinked cis-trans polybutadiene films were prepared on ultraclean glass microscope slides by uniform dipping. The samples were stored in different environments prior to evaluation of surface oxidation by dynamic contact angle using the Wilhelmy plate method and by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Storage conditions evaluated were: (1) laboratory air at 2OoC and 30% relative humidity; (2) vacuum at 0.1 torr; (3) distilled water equilibrated with air; A d (4) degassed distilled water. XPS and contact angle analysis indicate that samples exposed to air undergo significant surface oxidation within 8 h. Exposure of polybutadiene to air-equilibrated water results in slower oxidation. Samples stored in degassed water demonstrated less surface oxidation. Vacuum-stored samples demonstrated the least surface oxidation. Dynamic contact angle measurements demonstrated that receding contact angles are more sensitive to changes in surface oxidation than are advancing contact angles, as expected. Changes in surface wetting characteristics are readily observed after only 1 h in laboratory air, although XPS analysis does not show evidence of oxidation within 4 h of air storage.
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