Imitation expansion bolts structural bonding interface: Enhancing the bonding properties of bamboo composites through host–guest molecular recognition

• A bonding system with host and guest recognition was constructed. • The bonding system was constructed by imitating the structure of an expanding bolt. • The effect of host–guest recognition effects on bonding properties was explored. • This work provides a new research idea to improve the performance of glued products. With the emphasis on sustainable development, the preparation of environmentally friendly bio-based adhesives has become a research hotspot in the wood and bamboo composites industry. In this study, a bio-based bamboo adhesive was developed with functionalized cellulose and β-cyclodextrin, and adamantane was grafted onto the bamboo surface. The host–guest recognition bonding interface was constructed by imitating expansion bolt structure and explored the enhancement of bonding properties by host–guest molecular recognition in the bonding system. The dry, hot, and boiling water lap shear strengths of the bamboo bonding composites were 15.80 MPa, 11.85 MPa, and 10.56 MPa, respectively. However, The dry lap shear strength of the samples without adamantane grafted on the bamboo surface was only 6.60 MPa. This shows that the construction of the host–guest recognition system plays an important role in the bonding performance, and the dry lap shear strength of the samples increased by 139.4 % and the boiling water tensile strength increased by 576.9 %. Not only that, but the bonding of wood, polytetrafluoroethylene, and glass can also be realized by this method. This study provides feasible methods for enhancing the bonding properties of bio-based adhesives.