It can also biodegrade in soil within 50 days, leading researchers in China to state that it presents a new pathway towards sustainable plastic alternatives.
Plastics made from organic biomass, such as bamboo composite plastics, have previously shown promise in replacing traditional oil-based plastics.
However, widespread adoption has been limited by their inferior mechanical properties, meaning they are unable to be used in demanding applications such as infrastructure.
Additionally, bamboo composite plastics are typically composed of bamboo fibres immersed in a plastic or resin, and can’t be completely degraded, undermining efforts to find truly sustainable solutions to oil-based products
But writing in Nature Communications, Haipeng Yu, Dawei Zhao, and colleagues describe a non-toxic, alcohol solvent-based method to dissolve bamboo cellulose down to a molecular level, then direct the cellulose molecules to reassemble and organise into a tough plastic material.
During dissolution, the cellulose is chemically modified to aid the formation of a strong molecular network upon regeneration.
The bamboo plastic was tested against several types of widely used commercial plastics (such as polylactic acid and high impact polystyrene) with the bamboo plastic displaying a tensile strength of 110 megapascals (a unit of pressure) and work of fracture (the force required to fracture a material) of 80 kJ m-3, surpassing the traditional plastics and existing bioplastics.
The bamboo plastic also matched or outperformed traditional plastics in tests of mechanical and thermal stability, and shapeability, presenting it as a viable alternative for use in industry.
Additionally, the bamboo plastic can be degraded in soil within 50 days or closed-loop recycled (where objects are recycled and used to remake similar products) whilst retaining 90% of its original strength, demonstrating its potential as a sustainable but high performing alternative to traditional plastic materials.
“The global reliance on petrochemical plastics has led to severe environmental crises, necessitating sustainable alternatives that combine high performance with circularity,” they wrote.
“While bioplastics derived from biomass show promise, their widespread adoption is hindered by inferior mechanical properties, limited processability, and reliance on food-competing feedstocks. Here, we present a molecular engineering strategy to fabricate high-strength bamboo molecular plastics (BM-plastics) through a solvent-regulated shaping process.
“The BM-plastic outperforms most commercial plastics and bioplastics in mechanical and thermo-mechanical metrics while maintaining full biodegradability in soil within 50 days and closed-loop recyclability with 90% retained strength. Techno-economic analysis confirms its cost competitiveness, bridging the gap between sustainability and industrial scalability.
“This work establishes a method for transforming abundant bamboo cellulose into high-performance, eco-friendly materials, offering a viable pathway to mitigate plastic pollution and fossil resource dependence.”