earticle

영어

Bamboo is one of the most abundant biomass resources, which has advantages, such as short growth cycle, lightweight, and good mechanical property. As a renewable raw material, bamboo has been widely used in furniture, construction, and decoration. However, bamboo has some inherent drawbacks, like dimensional instability, hydrophilic property, and low resistance to biological factors (fungi, and insects), which greatly shortens its service life. For these reason, many efforts have been devoted to modifying bamboo to improve its properties and durability. Among a variety of bamboo species, Phyllostachys bambusoides (giant bamboo), Phyllostachys nigra (henon bamboo) and Phyllostachys pubesens (moso bamboo) are widely grown in Gyeongsang- and Jeolla-do, which are provinces of southern regions in South Korea. Despite the value of bamboo resources, bamboo forests in the country have been left unmanaged and neglected. The bamboo-related industry is gradually declining due to the increase in use of various materials along with changes in economic and social conditions. Heat treatment is considered to be one of the most effective approaches to improve drawbacks of bamboo materials, so it shows a great potential application in treating bamboo materials in the industry. In this study, moso bamboo (with a diameter over 10 cm) was subjected to heat treatment to improve its properties. Heat treatment was performed step by step in a large drying chamber as follows; pretreatment, cooking (100℃), steaming (140℃), and cooling during 4 days. After heat treatment, the changes in the chemical properties as well as microscopic structures of moso bamboo were analyzed. To evaluate the durability of heat-treated moso bamboo, fungal decay resistance, termite resistance, and artificial UV weathering test were also conducted. As a result of developing heat-treatment technology, mass production of dried moso bamboo (MC4%) is possible. Also, it was confirmed that there is no cracking on bamboo surfaces and durability is significantly improved. It is thought that these results can be used as an important data for better development of new uses of bamboo resources.