Experimental Analysis of the Mechanics of Mycelium-based Biocomposites

Mycelium-based bio-composite materials have been developed and are widely used in various industries, such as manufacturing, agriculture, construction, and the biomedical sector. Mycelium, the vegetative portion of a fungus, has the remarkable capacity to use agricultural crop waste as substrates for the growth of its network, which integrates wastes from fragments to continuous composites without energy or the creation of other waste. These substrates include sugarcane cotton, straws, logs, grains, stalks, and coffee granules. Their low-cost and environmental friendliness have an advancement impact on their development and commercialization. For example, foam made from mycelium combined with different substrates and mycelium-based sandwich composites has been actively developed for application in construction materials. It can be utilized as synthetic planar materials (e.g., plastic films and sheets), larger low-density objects (e.g., synthetic foams and plastics), and semi-structural materials (e.g., paneling, flooring, furniture, decking). Given such a material’s strong potential and multiple advantages, we produce dog-bone samples with our lab-grown mycelium-substrate materials to fully characterize their material functions; the results show higher strength than that of the corn straw bio-board. Moreover, based on the different treatment conditions we use to manufacture the samples, we summarize that medium temperature and long baking time can lead the mycelium-based bio-composites to optimized mechanical properties.