LAUSR

Lightweight structural materials are critical in construction and automobile applications. In past centuries, there has been great success in developing strong structural materials, such as steels, concrete, and petroleum-based composites, most of which, however, are either too heavy, high-cost, or nonrenewable. Bio-sourced composites are attractive alternatives to conventional structural materials, especially when high mechanical strength is presented. Here we demonstrate a strong, lightweight bio-based structural material derived from bamboo via a two-step manufacturing process involving partial delignification followed by microwave-heating. Partial delignification is a critical step prior to microwave heating as it makes the cell walls of bamboo softer and exposes more cellulose nanofibrils, which enables superior densification of the bamboo structure via heat-driven shrinkage. Additionally, microwave heating, as a fast and uniform heating method, can drive water out of the bamboo structure, yet without destroying the material's structural integrity, even after undergoing a large volume reduction of 28.9%. The resulting microwave-heated delignified bamboo structure demonstrates outstanding mechanical properties with a nearly 2-times improved tensile strength, 3.2-times enhanced toughness, and 2-times increased bending strength compared to natural bamboo. Additionally, the specific tensile strength of the modified bamboo structure reaches 560 MPa cm3 g-1, impressive given that its density is low (1.0 g cm-3), outperforming common structural materials, such as steels, metal alloys, and petroleum-based composites. These excellent mechanical properties combined with the resource abundance, renewable and sustainable features of bamboo, as well as the rapid, scalable manufacturing process, make this strong microwave-processed bamboo structure attractive for lightweight, energy-efficient engineering applications.