Biological resistance of nanoclay-treated plastic composites with different bamboo contents to three types of fungi

The present study investigated the effects of exposure of bamboo-plastic composites to three aggressive fungi species on mass loss values. Polyvinyl chloride was used as the synthetic matrix of the composite. Three mixing combinations were used for bamboo-polymer composites, namely 40/60, 50/50, and 60/40. The injection-molded process was employed to produce the composites. Specimens were prepared according to modified European standard specifications (EN-113) to be exposed to white-, brown-, and soft-rot fungi each month for 4 months. The results indicated that the soft-rot fungus (Chaetomium globosum) generally caused higher mass losses in all bamboo/plastic combination ratios. Brown- and soft-rot fungi demonstrated different mass losses on different combination ratios. However, the white-rot fungus (Trametes versicolor) caused nearly the same mass losses on all three combination ratios. Moreover,T. versicolorwas highly significant with respect to mass loss and moisture content. It can therefore be concluded that theT. versicolorhas a different decay metabolism when compared to the brown- and soft-rot fungus used in this study.