Effects of furfurylation on the#br# physical,mechanical and mold proof performance of bamboo.

In this paper, Moso bamboo was treated with furfuryl alcohols catalyzed by two different catalysts by vaculm and pressure impregnation routine. The purpose of this work was to investigate whether Moso bamboo was suitable for this treatment and to evaluate the effects of composite organic acid catalyst. Weight percent gain ( WPG ), equilibrium moisture content, dimensional stability, mechanical performance and mold-proof properties were determined. The results were as follows: 1) WPG of furfurylated bamboo catalyzed by maleic anhydride and composite organic acid catalyst was on average 31.03% and 25.41%, respectively. 2) Equilibrium moisture content decreased almost by 49%. Bending modulus, bending strength and compression strength were also improved remarkably, while the modulus of compression was little affected by the treatment. 3 ) The mechanical performance of furfurylated bamboo catalyzed by maleic anhydride was better than that catalyzed by composite organic acid. 4) The mold proof performance of the furfurylated bamboo was significantly improved with preservation ratio reaching 100%. 5) It was found that the dimensional stability of the treated samples decreased substantially. 6) The performance of the newly developed composite organic acid catalyst is almost as well as that of maleic anhydride.