Material development based on fungal mycelium is a fast-rising field of study as researchers, industry, and society actively search for new sustainable materials to address contemporary material challenges. The compelling potential of fungal mycelium materials is currently being explored in relation to various applications, including construction, packaging, “meatless” meat, and leather-like textiles. Here, we highlight the discussions and outcomes from a recent 1-day conference on the topic of fungal mycelium materials (“Fungal Mycelium Materials Mini Meeting”), where a group of researchers from diverse academic disciplines met to discuss the current state of the art, their visions for the future of the material, and thoughts on the challenges surrounding widescale implementation.

Healthy material alternatives based on renewable resources and sustainable technologies have the potential to disrupt the environmentally damaging production and consumption practices established throughout the modern industrial era. In this study, a mycelium–nanocellulose biocomposite with hybrid properties is produced by the agitated liquid culture of a white-rot fungus (Trametes ochracea) with nanocellulose (NC) comprised as part of the culture media. Mycelial development proceeds via the formation of pellets, where NC is enriched in the pellets and depleted from the surrounding liquid media. Micrometer-scale NC elements become engulfed in mycelium, whereas it is hypothesized that the nanometer-scale fraction becomes integrated within the hyphal cell wall, such that all NC in the system is essentially surface-modified by mycelium. The NC confers mechanical strength to films processed from the biocomposite, whereas the mycelium screens typical cellulose–water interactions, giving fibrous slurries that dewater faster and films that exhibit significantly improved wet resistance in comparison to pure NC films. The mycelium–nanocellulose biocomposites are processable in the ways familiar to papermaking and are suggested for diverse applications, including packaging, filtration, and hygiene products.

Recent convergence of biotechnological and design tools has stimulated an emergence of new design practices utilizing natural mechanisms to program matter in a bottom-up approach. In this paper, the fibrous network of mycelium—the vegetative part of fungi—is employed to produce sustainable alternatives for synthetic foams. Current research on mycelium-based materials lacks essential details regarding material compositions, incubation conditions, and fabrication methods. The paper presents the results of ongoing research on employing mycelium to provide cleaner architecture and design products with sustainable lifecycles. The paper opens with a critical review of current projects, products, and scientific literature using mycelium in design and architecture. In the second section, material properties of varied fungi-substrate compositions and fabrication methods are evaluated and compared through changes in essential chemical parameters during fermentation, visual impression, water absorbency, and compression strength tests. Then, potential architecture and design implications related to the material properties are discussed. Results indicate a clear correlation between fungi, substrate, mold properties, and incubation conditions on final material characteristics, depicting a clear effect on material density, water absorbency, and the compressive strength of the final bio-composite. Finally, two primary case studies demonstrate implications for mycelium-based composites for circular design and architectural applications. The study shows that in order to produce desirable designs and performance within an inclusive circular approach, parameters such as material composition and fabrication conditions should be considered according to the target function of the final product throughout the design process.

The growing need of the industry for alternative materials and products that are biodegradable and derived from renewable resources has recently led researchers from varied fields to search for more sustainable alternatives, and develop natural biocomposites to replace varied petroleum-based products in order to reduce the intolerable stress on the planet environment. In this research, the natural ability of saprophytic fungi to bind and digest lingo-cellulose, is utilized to develop natural bio-composite materials for novel applications in design and architecture. Previous research has shown a potential to develop products such as packaging, building and insulation materials, leather-like, textile and transparent edible films. However, no research has been found in which all the significant variables were systematically tested. In this work, several fungi species were grown on varied local agricultural-growth wastes to evaluate which pair of fungi-plant material features the most suitable combination for future applications. The fungi; Pleurotus pulmonarius, Pleurotus ostreatus, Pleurotus salmoneostramineus and Aaegerita agrocibe where grown on woodchips of Eucalyptus, Oak, Pine, Apple and vine. The samples were tested for selected properties, including chemical changes in organic matter (pH, electric conductivity, water, carbon and nitrogen contents), mycelium growth rate, density and quality impression. By examining these fundamental materials characteristics, we aim to achieve a thorough understanding of the structural and aesthetic opportunities that this novel bio-material should offer. The current stage of the research shows that the most efficient integrations where the samples of P. ostreatus grown on Apple or Vine woodchips. Future work will focus on using suitable analytical methods for further understanding of the changes in mycelium and plant structures during the digestion process, and locating essential variable parameters of previous and post processing, to achieve desired material properties and introduce innovative characteristics and functions over existing industrial products and applications.

Highly hydrophobic cellulosic nanomaterials were prepared via iodine-catalyzed butyrate esterification of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC). The structure and properties of butyrated cellulose nanocrystals (Bu-CNC) were investigated via advanced spectroscopic, morphological, optical, thermal, contact angle, and coating analyses. Bu-CNC retained cellulose crystallinity, was hydrophobic with a static contact angle of 81.54° and displayed 18.5% enhancement in its thermal stability. Moreover, Bu-CNC possessed a solid multilamellar cellulose II structure and showed liquid crystalline behavior over a wide range of temperatures. Bu-CNC formed transparent flexible films upon drying and was easily dispersible in ethanol and acetone. As a thermally stable hydrophobic liquid crystalline biobased material, Bu-CNC presents a new class of nanomaterial, which potentially suits various industrial and medical applications.