Large-scale fabrication of transparent bamboo structural materials with turnable mechanical strength

The great challenge associated with existing transparent bamboo is the inability to fabricate large-sized homogeneous materials. This limitation stems from the unique characteristics of bamboo, including its thin and hollow walls, lack of transverse structure and continuous density gradient. Here, a transparent bamboo was proposed, incorporating the natural structure of bamboo fibers scaffolds and advanced weaving techniques to construct a sturdy bamboo fiber scaffold, which was then impregnated with epoxy resin. This approach aimed to enhance transverse strength while addressing size limitations. The obtained transparent bamboo had excellent transparency effect. Furthermore, by optimizing the weaving structure, the anisotropy of transparent bamboo can be adjusted to isotropy, and the absolute error of longitudinal and transverse tensile strength was reduced from 29.9 to 0.7 to obtain homogeneous materials. Finally, the lattice interlocking structure was designed to fabricate a transparent bamboo measuring 2300 mm in length, 530 mm in width, and 1 mm in thickness, which was 66.9 times that of the previously reported transparent bamboo. By integrating its bamboo weaving-based industrial fabrication technology, controllable mechanical strength, and infinitely scalable production capabilities, this transparent bamboo emerged as a highly promising candidate for application in energy-efficient building constructions.