Material Function of Mycelium-Based Bio-Composite: A Review

Libin Yang,Zhao Qin,Daekwon Park

doi:10.3389/fmats.2021.737377

Abstract

Mycelium-based bio-composite materials have been invented and widely applied to different areas, including construction, manufacturing, agriculture, and biomedical. As the vegetative part of a fungus, mycelium has the unique capability to utilize agricultural crop waste (e.g., sugarcane bagasse, rice husks, cotton stalks, straw, and stover) as substrates for the growth of its network, which integrates the wastes from pieces to continuous composites without energy input or generating extra waste. Their low-cost and environmentally friendly features attract interest in their research and commercialization. For example, mycelium-based foam and sandwich composites have been actively developed for construction structures. It can be used as synthetic planar materials (e.g., plastic films and sheets), larger low-density objects (e.g., synthetic foams and plastics), and semi-structural materials (e.g., paneling, flooring, furniture, decking). It is shown that the material function of these composites can be further tuned by controlling the species of fungus, the growing conditions, and the post-growth processing method to meet a specific mechanical requirement in applications (e.g., structural support, acoustic and thermal insulation). Moreover, mycelium can be used to produce chitin and chitosan, which have been applied to clinical trials for wound healing, showing the potential for biomedical applications. Given the strong potential and multiple advantages of such a material, we are interested in studying it in-depth and reviewing the current progress of its related study in this review paper.

Highlights

The construction industry has undertaken significant pressure over the past decade, as the methods of producing construction materials are limited and the demand by the global population is increasing (Madurwar et al, 2013; Pheng and Hou, 2019)
Each mycelium filament is composed of multiple layers that vary in chemical composition, including proteins, glucans, and chitin (Haneef et al, 2017)
The incubation time for the mycelium to completely cover the dish is about 7–14 days 2) Prepare the sterilized growing substrate composed of various organic matters and transfer a small piece of mycelium sample cut from the culturing dish into the growing substrate for further incubation

Summary

INTRODUCTION

The construction industry has undertaken significant pressure over the past decade, as the methods of producing construction materials are limited and the demand by the global population is increasing (Madurwar et al, 2013; Pheng and Hou, 2019). The rapidly increasing global population leads to increasing annual consumption of agricultural products, which generates more byproducts (e.g., rice husks, cotton stalks, and straw), with most of them being tracked as purely agricultural waste largely discarded or burned, generating carbon dioxide, atmospheric particulate matters, and other greenhouse gases (Bhuvaneshwari et al, 2019; Defonseka, 2019; Maraveas, 2020). They have been partly used as an additive to fertilizers, animal bedding, and low-quality building materials for infrastructures

A Review on Mycelium Biocomposite

Findings

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION