Fungal mycelium is an emerging bio-based material. Here, mycelium films are produced from liquid shaken cultures that have a Young’s modulus of 0.47 GPa, an ultimate tensile strength of 5.0 MPa and a strain at failure of 1.5%. Treating the mycelial films with 0–32% glycerol impacts the material properties. The largest effect is observed after treatment with 32% glycerol decreasing the Young’s modulus and the ultimate tensile strength to 0.003 GPa and 1.8 MPa, respectively, whereas strain at failure increases to 29.6%. Moreover, glycerol treatment makes the surface of mycelium films hydrophilic and the hyphal matrix absorbing less water. Results show that mycelium films treated with 8% and 16–32% glycerol classify as polymer- and elastomer-like materials, respectively, while non-treated films and films treated with 1–4% glycerol classify as natural material. Thus, mycelium materials can cover a diversity of material families.
CITATION STYLE
Appels, F. V. W., van den Brandhof, J. G., Dijksterhuis, J., de Kort, G. W., & Wösten, H. A. B. (2020). Fungal mycelium classified in different material families based on glycerol treatment. Communications Biology, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-020-1064-4
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