Surface property enhancement of bamboo by inorganic materials coating with extended functional applications

•A dense TiO2@KH-570/PDMS layer was coated on bamboo surface.•Enhanced hydrophobicity, physical property and mildew resistance are achieved.•Samples effectively dissipate EMW energies with broad effective frequency bandwidth.•The mechanism of performance improvement was well addressed. Bamboo, which is widely distributed in developing countries and has high economic value there, have attracted worldwide attention. Due to the structural and compositional defects including no transverse duct, gradient change of microstructure, monotonous constituent elements, rich in polysaccharides and other nutrients, bamboo has encountered a bottleneck in its application. We coated TiO2@KH-570 on the bamboo surface through the covalent bond and hydrogen bond bridging of polydimethylsiloxane. The composites exhibit improved mechanical strength, and enhanced surface hydrophobicity, aging resistance, self-cleaning performance and mildew resistance. Meanwhile, due to the construction of inorganic/polymer equivalent circuit on the surface, the transmitted electromagnetic wave (EMW) energies can be dissipated through the induced interfacial/dipolar polarization and conductive loss processes. Furthermore, a novel bamboo-based decorative veneer material with the above excellent properties and novel functions can be developed by this facial and eco-friendly method. Our work provides a potentially industrial way for high-value utilization of bamboo.