## 1 Introduction  
It is only right and natural that we try to devise ways to utilize and process all the wood and non-wood lignocellulosic raw materials available on this planet. In the current period of reduced raw material resources, this issue is very topical [1, 2]. Bamboo is the most important non-wood species, which grows abundantly in most of the tropical and subtropical zones. It has already shown its advantages to produce veneer, plywood, particleboard and fiberboard, and research is being done for its use as oriented strand board (OSB), glue laminated timber (GLT), etc. Specifically, bamboo species differ partly in chemical composition and in physical and mechanical properties. For this reason, this is research focused on _Gigantochlaa scortechnini_, locally known as semantan bamboo, a bamboo species that occurs abundantly in Peninsula Malaysia. Based on the 5 th National Forest Inventory Report, semantan bamboo is Malaysia's fifth most abundant bamboo species after _Gigantochla levis_, _Schizostachyum grande_, _Dendrocalamus asper_ and _Gigantochlao wrayi_. An estimated 101,566,945 clumps of semantan bamboo can be found in Peninsula Malaysia forests (5 th National Forest Inventory Report 2015). Semantan bamboo can grow up to 21 m tall with a culm wall thickness of 10 mm [3]. In Peninsula Malaysia, semantan bamboo is the most commonly used bamboo in the production of wood-based composites such as particleboard, laminated bamboo, plybamboo, bamboo fiber reinforced polymeric composite, etc. [4; 5; 6; 7; 8]  
Generally, the bamboo stem is constituted of skin, timber and pith [9]. Bamboo timber is the part that is located between the skin and pith. Bamboo timber can be divided into three parts, which are bamboo green (outer part), bamboo timber (middle part) and bamboo yellow (inner part). After being removed from bamboo timber, both bamboo green and bamboo yellow can be used for weaving. Compared to bamboo yellow, the advantages of bamboo green include high toughness, high density, smoothness, durability and convenient storage. Bamboo green is normally used to produce woven bamboo. Woven bamboo is a product produced from pliable thin strips of bamboo that are split longitudinally along the culm of the bamboo [10]. Typically, herringbone, a pattern made up of rows of parallel lines that in any two adjacent rows slope in opposite directions, is the most common weaving pattern [11]. Baskets, mats, cases and fans are among the woven bamboo products weaved by rural families for additional income generation. Apart from handicrafts, woven bamboo can be converted into panels too. Bamboo is suitable as a material for producing new products that can be used indoors and outdoors. One of the examples is a bamboo woven panel, a type of mat produced by weaving bamboo strips together. Woven bamboo panels are crafted to form a range of different weave patterns including horizontal, vertical, herringbone, rectangle, wave, triangle, diamond, and more. The bamboo laminated board is an alternate type of modification that can expand the usage of bamboo as a raw material [12]. Bamboo laminated boards have been used in structural and non-structural applications like furniture, interior panels, parquet, and other uses [13]. There are also various works on laminated bamboo development, such as laminated bamboo lumber [14], laminated bamboo zephyr [15], bamboo-bundle laminated veneer [16], and laminated bamboo strips [17; 18]. Manufacturing panels from woven bamboo has been done in 1940s, where the first recorded production was during the Second World War. Ply-bamboo was made by hot pressing woven bamboo sheets coated with casein glues. Meanwhile in India, bamboo mat board bonded with synthetic resin was also developed [19]. Woven bamboo offers several advantages in producing bamboo mat board and bamboo mat veneer composites. Bamboo mat board is a layered composite comprising several layers of woven bamboo and is known for excellent internal bond strength and superior biological durability [11].