Effect of hydrothermal treatment with different aqueous solutions on the mold resistance of moso bamboo with chemical and FTIR analysis

• Main Authors: Dali Cheng, Shenxue Jiang, Qisheng Zhang
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: North Carolina State University 2013-02-01
• Series: BioResources
• Subjects: Moso bamboo; Mold resistance; Two-step heat treatment; Chemical analysis; FTIR
• Online Access: http://www.ncsu.edu/bioresources/BioRes_08/BioRes_08_1_0371_Cheng_JZ_Hydrotherm_Aq_Soln_Mould_Bamboo_3429.pdf

Bamboo has received increased attention as a biomass material because it is fast growing and has good mechanical properties. But bamboo is very vulnerable to mold fungi, which greatly limits its applications. In this paper, bamboo was firstly hydrothermally treated at 140 °C by three different treatments: with water only, NaOH, and NaAc aqueous solution, then heat treated at relatively mild conditions (180 °C). Subsequently, the mold resistance of bamboo before and after the two-step heat treatment was investigated. The mechanism of mold resistance was analyzed by a bamboo chemical component analysis, FTIR spectroscopy. The results showed that strong degradation of hemicelluloses by heat treatment could inhibit mold growth to some extent. Moreover, the modification of lignin and the creation of phenolic compounds in the bamboo could prevent or slow down fungal growth.