Cleaner production strategy tailored versatile biocomposites for antibacterial application and electromagnetic interference shielding

Abstract

The clean and sustainable development of biomass resources has attracted tremendous attention to alleviate the increasingly serious energy depletion and environmental problems. Hence, it is urgently needed to design a green product through a cleaner production strategy to bridge the gap between materials and sustainability toward environmental protection and practicality. Herein, a bamboo fiber/polybutylene succinate (PBS) biocomposite that carries silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) with electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding and antibacterial activity, as well as the performance of interface reinforcement, were prepared using a green, efficient, and scalable bionic strategy of PDA coupling with minimal environmental footprint. The proposed bamboo fiber/PBS biocomposites, which showed multifunctionality and environmental adaptability, revealed good antibacterial activity, where the average inhibition zone diameters against E. coli and S. aureus bacteria reached 5.37 ± 0.36 and 3.96 ± 0.74 mm, respectively. Simultaneously, gains in the EMI shielding effectiveness (∼29.72 dB) and mechanical properties (improved by 24.58% in tensile strength, 39.13% in tensile modulus, 14.60% in flexural strength, and 19.67% in flexural modulus) were realized. Overall, this work displays a novel pathway toward eco-friendly and multifunctional nature fiber/polymer composites for high-value utilization.