Eco‐friendly innovation: Industrial‐scale all‐natural bamboo drinking straw inspired by bamboo's flexibility and toughness

Abstract

Disposable plastic straws are small, lightweight, and non-degradable, making them rarely recycled and causing severe environmental pollution. However, the search for suitable alternatives, balancing high performance with low cost, poses a substantial challenge. Inspired by bamboo's flexibility and toughness, this study proposed an innovative solution: a biodegradable drinking straw fabricated by winding ultra-thin bamboo slices. The specially prepared bamboo slices demonstrated high tensile strength, exceptional flexibility for bending, and the ability to withstand repeated torsion. To address natural issues of color-producing group migration and mold susceptibility, the bamboo slices underwent simultaneous soaking and ultrasonic treatment. The resulting bamboo straws exhibited remarkable properties with compressive strength of 16.42–19.01 MPa and bending strength of 14.21–15.02 MPa, which matched or exceeded those of commercial paper straws and were significantly higher than those of polypropylene (PP) and polylactic acid (PLA) straws. When exposed to various beverages, bamboo straws retained their structural integrity, absorbed significantly less water than paper straws, and the wet strength was 4.36 times greater than that of paper straws. Moreover, bamboo drinking straws exhibited low production costs and garnered widespread consumer approval. The strategy for industrial-scale production of bamboo straws offers significant potential for replacing plastic straws.