Characterization of the Influence of Heat Compression on Bamboo Cell Walls by Nanoindentation

Heat compression refers to a modification method that can be adopted to enhance the mechanical and physical properties of bamboo materials. In this paper, the focus was placed on investigating the micromorphology, cellulose crystallinity, chemical composition, and nano-scale mechanical properties of treated bamboo cell walls. The results demonstrated that the heat compression process induced a reduction in the cell lumen of the bamboo cell wall. Besides, the hemicellulose and cellulose content decreased; while the lignin content increased. Moreover, the oven density of bamboo samples increased due to the heat compression process. The elastic modulus and hardness increased from 13.9 MPa and 0.55 MPa to 17.3 MPa and 0.88 MPa, respectively. Further, the creep ratio in the treated group decreased compared with the control one.