Development of monolithic eco-composites from carbonized blocks of solid iron bamboo (Dendrocalamus strictus) by impregnation with furfuryl alcohol

The purpose of this work was to manufacture the porous biomorphous composite using carbonized shapes cut from solid stem of solid iron bamboo, Dendrocalamus strictus, as a monolithic support. Bamboo carbonized at 800 °C was next infiltrated with liquid filler – furfuryl alcohol. After the polymerization and cross-linking of the filler, the shapes were carbonized again to obtain carbon/carbon composite. TGA method was used to investigate the thermal decomposition of the resulting composite as well as of the raw and carbonized bamboo. The ultrasonic measurements, optical microscopy observations, the adsorption of N2 at –196 °C and mercury porosimetry were applied to characterize the structure of the investigated materials. The obtained composite was found to be highly porous (over 80%), thermo-resistant in inert atmosphere (up to 940 °C). It possessed stiff hierarchically ordered pore structure with elastic moduli >4 GPa along the stem, and >1 GPa perpendicularly to the stem. Furthermore, the layer of carbon from the polymer coated the support accurately and did not affect the shape of the monolithic pieces of carbonized bamboo. The resulting composite possessed also more uniform, mesoporous structure than the support.