In this study, for the first time, the potential of rose flowers and lavender straw waste biomass was studied as feeding lignocellulose substrates for the cultivation of newly isolated in Bulgaria Ganoderma resinaceum GA1M with the objective of obtaining mycelium-based bio-composites. The chemical characterization and Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy established that the proximate composition of steam distilled lavender straw (SDLS) and hexane extracted rose flowers (HERF) was a serious prerequisite supporting the self-growth of mycelium bio-materials with improved antibacterial and aromatic properties. The basic physico-mechanical properties of the developed bio-composites were determined. The apparent density of the mycelium HERF-based bio-composites (462 kg/m3) was higher than that of the SDLS-based bio-composite (347 kg/m3) and both were much denser than expanded polystyren (EPS), lighter than medium-density fiber board (MDF) and oriented strand board (OSB) and similar to hempcrete. The preliminary testing of their compressive behavior revealed that the compressive resistance of SDLS-based bio-composite was 718 kPa, while for HERF-based bio-composite it was 1029 kPa and both values are similar to the compressive strength of hempcrete with similar apparent density. Water absorbance analysis showed, that both mycelium HERF- and SDLS-based bio-composites were hydrophilic and further investigations are needed to limit the hydrophilicity of the lignocellulose fibers, to tune the density and to improve compressive resistance.

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In the present work, our research is focused on an innovative compact all-fiber-optic structure suitable for the development of fully integrated dye lasers. The structure is based on a standard fiber-optic glass ferrule with two parallel openings along its length with diameters of 125 μm. A Fabry-Perot cavity is formed in one of the openings using two fused silica optical fibers with flat end facets. An angle-polished optical fiber with a reflective metal coating is placed in the second opening through which the active medium is pumped transversely. The active medium used is the Rhodamine 6G dye dissolved in glycerine, which is pumped by the 337.1-nm wavelength laser pulses of a nitrogen TEA laser. The ferrule-based design allows for a simplified set-up procedure and the integration of the pumping system to the basic structure of the laser, thus making it very compact. The design of the light source presented allows its future use in applications, such as lab-on-a-fiber, lab-on-a-chip and total analysis micro systems.

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