The enormous pressures of energy consumption and the severe pollution produced by non-renewable resources have prompted researchers to develop various environmentally friendly energy-saving materials. Transparent bamboo represents an emerging result of biomass material research that has been identified and studied for its many advantages, including light weight, excellent light transmittance, environmental sustainability, superior mechanical properties, and low thermal conductivity. The present review summarizes methods for preparing transparent bamboo, including delignification and resin impregnation. Next, transparent bamboo performance is quantified in terms of optical, mechanical, and thermal conductivity characteristics and compared with other conventional and emerging synthetic materials. Potential applications of transparent bamboo are then discussed using various functionalizations achieved through doping nanomaterials or modified resins to realize advanced energy-efficient building materials, decorative elements, and optoelectronic devices. Finally, challenges associated with the preparation, performance improvement, and production scaling of transparent bamboo are summarized, suggesting opportunities for the future development of this novel, bio-based, and advanced material.
Keywords: functionalization and application; mechanical properties; optical properties; transparent bamboo.