Mycelium Materials

Mycelium-Based Composite: The Future Sustainable Biomaterial

“…A few companies such as MycoWorks ( https://www.mycoworks.com , 2021), NEFFA [ 55 ], Evocative Design [ 56 ], and MOGU [ 57 ] started to design and commercialize mycelium-bound composites in the world. Since 2007, designers and architects started to use mycelium-based products such as synthetic leather [ 33 ], kitchen utensils [ 8 ], packaging items [ 25 ], various furniture [ 58 ], wall and ceiling panels [ 4 ], biocement [ 31 , 34 , 59 ], and blocks and masonry units [ 8 , 45 , 49 , 60 , 61 ] as alternatives to conventional materials. Figure 1 shows different mycelium-based materials.…”

“…Figure 1 shows different mycelium-based materials. Of all materials, synthetic leather is made up of pure mycelium, while packaging items, furniture, panels, and blocks are made of a combination of mycelium and organic substrates [ 33 , 63 ]. Using mycelium-based material as an alternative to polystyrene and plastic packaging was started in 2013 by a company called Evocative Design [ 56 ].…”

“…Fungi have dense mycelium, grow fast at locally available media, and have no toxicity level. Phylum Basidiomycota is selected for biomaterial production by different scientists due to their mycelium natural adhesive property and their ability to degrade lignocellulose [ 33 ]. This phylum has been selected due to the presence of two important features: septa and anastomosis [ 67 ].…”

“…Pleurotus ostreatus is categorized under order Agaricales, family Pleurotaceae, and genus Pleurotus , while Ganoderma lucidum goes to order Polyporales, family Polyporaceae, and genus Ganoderma [ 64 ]. Fungal species that belong to the order Agaricales ( Pleurotus ostreatus ) result in the production of higher compressive strength biomaterials and have more stiffness properties [ 33 ]. That is due to its ability to colonize and grow rapidly on various organic materials containing lignin, cellulose, and hemicelluloses and thick cell walls [ 4 , 44 , 61 ].…”

“…This species can colonize and degrade a large area of lignocellulose waste streams such as sawdust and straw within a few days [ 32 , 33 ]; furthermore, it has rough skin and a more rigid appearance [ 63 ]. As a result, most researchers prefer this species for its best properties of biomaterial production.…”