Fabrication of Living Entangled Network Composites Enabled by Mycelium.

ABSTRACT: Organic polymer-based composite materials with favorable mechanical performance and functionalities are keystones to various modern industries; however, the environmental pollution stemming from their processing poses a great challenge. In this study, by finding an autonomous phase separating ability of fungal mycelium, a new material fabrication approach is introduced that leverages such biological metabolism-driven, mycelial growth-induced phase separation to bypass high-energy cost and labor-intensive synthetic methods. The resulting self-regenerative composites, featuring an entangled network structure of mycelium and assembled organic polymers, exhibit remarkable self-healing properties, being capable of reversing complete separation and restoring ≈90% of the original strength. These

SUBMITTER: Wang H 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11200020 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature