Once called “the wood for the poor,” bamboo is a
plant with a wide range of uses around the world. In recent years, the
international community has begun to value environmentally friendly and
fast-growing bamboo, which has turned it into a green material with great
potential.
Taiwan’s bamboo forest covers an area of about 183,000 hectares. Of the 58
types of bamboo, 18 are native to Taiwan. Taiwan is rich in high quality
bamboo resources. Bamboo grows fast and is ready for use within 4 years.
With strong fecundity, the more old bamboo shoots are cut, the more
beneficial it is for the germination of new shoots and the improvement of
bamboo quality. The method helps to build healthy bamboo forests and enhance
the effectiveness of land protection.
The Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency has integrated the resources of
the industry, the government, academia, and research institutes, and has
successively developed new bamboo (charcoal) products, production
technologies and equipment, which can be applied in various fields such as
textile, building construction, food, environmental improvement, medical
care, and electronic components. At the same time, the Forestry and Nature
Conservation Agency has also achieved a number of world firsts, including
“establishing the world's first set of bamboo charcoal certification
standards,” “bamboo charcoal refinement level and far-infrared measurement
technology,” “remote automatic temperature control and monitoring platform,”
and the first “modularized bamboo carbonization furnace and activation
equipment.” The effort also leads to the development of hundreds of
composite products.
- Development of bamboo charcoal textiles
Successfully developed nano-level healthy bamboo carbon yarn can be used to
make functional textiles and health products.
- Development of bamboo charcoal daily products
Bamboo can be used to make a wide range of products such as bamboo charcoal
musical instruments, bamboo charcoal cleaning products, beauty and care
products, bamboo charcoal food, bamboo charcoal tea cans, bamboo charcoal
wine, bamboo charcoal tableware, etc.
- Development of fine bamboo creative products
Bamboo lamination and the green and yellow sections of bamboo are used to
develop fine bamboo products such as creative electronic goods.
- Development of bamboo-compound biological fertilizers
Bamboo charcoal and natural polymer molding technology are used to prepare
culture materials. The end product can effectively retain water and
fertilizers and facilitate germination. It is also used for the “Urban
Farmer Gardening Kit.”
- Development of bamboo-leaf flavor products
Bamboo leaves contain flavonoids and antioxidants, and its polysaccharides
(with natural sweetness) with low calories can be used for healthcare and
health products. It also has the advantages of high yield and high output
value.
For technology inquiries, Contactthe Bamboo
Industry Technical Consultation Center
(1) The magical black diamond: bamboo charcoal
｜The function of porous bamboo charcoal｜
Generally, what we call as “bamboo charcoal” is the carbon material that has
not been activated. Bamboo charcoal with activation treatment is referred to
as “activated bamboo charcoal.” After carbonization, the specific surface
area can reach 300-600 m2/g. That is, the total area of the inner wall of 1g
bamboo charcoal pores is about 300-600 m2, which is equivalent to the size
of a tennis court. After activation treatment, the specific surface area can
be increased to over 1000 m2/g. This amazingly large surface area is the
reason bamboo charcoal can regulate humidity and purify water and air. The
specific surface area of bamboo charcoal is about 2.5 times that of wood
charcoal, and thus it shows a stronger adsorption capacity than wood
charcoal.
｜Bamboo charcoal and activated bamboo carbon｜
During the carbonization process, hydrocarbons and other generated
substances partially block the pores, and as a result, the reduced surface
area impedes the adsorption capacity. The removal of hydrocarbons by
physical air activation or chemical activation can increase the formation of
pores and the surface area and thus adsorption capacity is enhanced. The
activated carbon is called “activated carbon.”
As early as the beginning of the 17th century, British scientists had
already used carbonized bamboo filaments to send current and light up lamp
bulbs. Today, bamboo charcoal can be used in all aspects of life covering
food, clothing, housing, transportation, and entertainment. Bamboo produces
a very dense and porous structure after carbonization, and thus it comes
with a range of excellent functions such as deodorization, humidity control,
far infrared radiation, and electromagnetic shielding. Both bamboo charcoal
and diamonds are composed of carbon atoms. Hence, some people refer to
bamboo charcoal as “black diamonds.”
Under an electron microscope at magnification 100x, it can be seen that
bamboo charcoal presents a very dense and porous structure, and the specific
surface area (BET) can be as high as 300-600 m2/g after activation
treatment.
(2) Bamboo charcoal conductivity illustration
｜About bamboo charcoal conductivity｜
“Carbonization” of bamboo is the thermal decomposition of bamboo under high
temperature and a state of isolation or restriction of air. The final result
is a carbon-based, graphite-like, six-ring layered structure. Carbon atoms
extend in a two-dimensional space on a hexagonal planar structure and the
layered arrangement of this two-dimensional structure allows electrons to
move freely in each layer, making the bamboo charcoal conductive.
During the charcoal making process, the higher the carbonization
temperature, the neater the arrangement of carbon atoms, and the higher the
electrical conductivity. On the contrary, the lower the carbonization
temperature is, the less orderly the arrangement of carbon atoms is. The
greater the resistance of the bamboo charcoal to electricity, the lower
electrical conductivity.
(3) Bamboo color preservation technology
Contact person: Shang-Tzen Chang, distinguished professor, National Taiwan
University
Tel:(02)33664626
In the past, bamboo green preservation treatment required a two-stage
treatment process to achieve the green preservation. At present, a
single-step bamboo green preservation treatment process has been
successfully developed, and the technology adopts an environmentally
friendly, low toxicity wood preservative - Alkyl copper quaternary compound
(ACQ) - as the color preservation agent. The agent improves the
decay-resistance capacity of green bamboo and can effectively reduce the
production costs, while simplifying the complexity of the manufacturing
process.
(4) Bamboo charcoal paper used in functional lamps
Contact person: Sheau-Horng Lin, professor, National Pingtung University of
Science and Technology .
Tel: (08)7703202 ext. 7133
A combination of aesthetic design and scientific research and development,
the technology adds bamboo charcoal particles to the pulp to produce bamboo
charcoal paper. The product shows a far-infrared emission rate of 70%, and
the number of negative ions achieve a moderate or better level purification
capacity. Different from traditional lamps that only have lighting
functions, bamboo charcoal paper functional lamps have both environmental
optimization functionality and market development potential.
(5) Bamboo moisturizing cosmetics
Contact person: Ying-Bin Huang, researcher, Industrial Technology Research
Institute
Technology Transfer Vendor: Xinxi International Enterprise Co., Ltd.
Tel:(06)6550550
Multiple pressure technology is leveraged to extract the beneficial elements
from bamboo leaves, including isoflavones, phenol ketones, anthraquinones,
amino acid polysaccharides and trace elements. These elements show excellent
anti-radical and anti-oxidation (AOB) benefits, among others. These extracts
can be fully exploited for the development of wholly natural skin care
products and peripheral products.
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Last Update Date：2025-10-13
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