Bamboo as a substitute for plastic: Research on the application performance and influencing mechanism of bamboo buttons

In the context of the “bamboo as a substitute for plastic” initiative and global restrictions on plastic, the substitution of plastic buttons with bamboo buttons offers significant advantages in terms of resource efficiency, environmental impact, and ecological benefits. This study demonstrated the preparation of bamboo buttons by the manufacturing method of plastic buttons. Then the bamboo buttons were heat-treated to improve their application properties as garment fasteners. It was to explore the application performance and the underlying influencing mechanism of bamboo buttons, encompassing the morphology, physical and chemical properties, color variation, versatility in different scenarios, and mechanical properties of bamboo buttons. The findings demonstrated that heat treatment process had the potential to enhance the surface color uniformity and richness of bamboo buttons. Moreover, a satisfactory linear relationship was observed between the major components of bamboo buttons and the color index. Lignin played a major role in color index, which was negatively correlated with brightness index (L*) and yellow-blue index (b*), and positively correlated with red-green index (a*) and total chromatic difference (ΔEab*). Color variations were observed in bamboo buttons by washing with seawater, chlorine water, and soap (40 °C, 50 °C, 60 °C, and 95 °C). The tensile strength of the bamboo buttonhole gradually decreased from 291.84 ± 28.10 N to 136.69 ± 25.19 N as the temperature increased. However, bamboo buttons met the requirements for light duty applications. The fracture morphology of bamboo buttons was categorized into four forms: linearity, stair pattern, parallel lines, and Y shape. All broken bamboo buttons exhibited fractures along the fiber direction and within the intercellular layer, mainly attributed to the differences in chemical composition between the cell wall and the intercellular layer. This research could provide a theoretical foundation for the promotion and application of bamboo buttons.