Synergistic effects of tung oil and heat treatment on physicochemical properties of bamboo materials

The search for green and sustainable modification method to produce durable bamboo materials remains a challenge in industry. Here, heat treatment in tung oil at 100–200 °C was employed to modify bamboo materials. Oil permeation and distribution in the structure of bamboo samples during heat treatment were explored. The synergistic effects of tung oil and heat treatment on the chemical, physical and mechanical properties of bamboo materials, and their mutual relationships were also investigated in detail. Results showed that the tung oil heat treated bamboo not only had an enhanced hydrophobic property and dimensional stability, improved fungi resistance, but also displayed good mechanical performance. Compared with the untreated sample, the water-saturated swelling reduced from 3.17% to 2.42% for the sample after oil heat treatment at 200 °C, and the contact angles of the sample after oil heat treatment at 200 °C can keep >100° after 300 s in radial direction. Such improvement can be attributed to changes of chemical components, increased crystallinity structure, and the formation of oily films inside or over the bamboo surface. Therefore, tung oil heat treatment can be a highly promising technology for bamboo modification in the industry.