Researchers have found a remarkable mushroom called Fomes fomentarius that could replace plastics in various applications, from memory foam for shoes to exoskeletons for aircraft. These materials, made with mushrooms, are biodegradable and could be recycled at the end of a product’s life to create more of the same.
Replacing plastics made from fossil fuels with mushrooms could help reduce the massive amounts of waste that humans produce. Plastics made from fossil fuels are hard to recycle and often end up littering landfills, landscapes, and waterways.
The F. fomentarius mushroom, studied by researchers and published in the journal Science Advances, has a broad range of properties, from soft and spongy to tough and woody. The mushroom’s architecture was studied to find more sustainable ways of incorporating it into people’s lives.
Unique Properties of F. fomentarius
The mushroom has three layers with distinct properties that could be useful in various ways. The tough outer crust could be used to make impact-resistant coatings for windshields, while the soft middle layer could replicate leather. The third inner layer is similar to wood. Researchers have used mechanical strength tests and advanced imaging techniques to study each layer and assess their potential uses.
Mushroom-Based Building Materials, Packaging, and Textiles
There is already growing interest in mushroom-based building materials, packaging, and textiles. Pezhman Mohammadi, a senior scientist at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland, and his team have created a prototype set of headphones using the thread-like structure, called mycelium, that makes up a fungus.
Despite the potential uses, there is still a long way to go before mushrooms can replace plastic. Mass-producing the mycelium for market without damaging the ecosystem is a significant challenge. The fungus’ genome also needs tweaking to emphasize certain traits, and more research and testing are required to make sure the resulting materials are both biodegradable and durable enough for consumers.
Mushroom-based products could break down once they are no longer useful, rather than lingering indefinitely like plastic pollution. As waste, these products could even become food for new mycelium production, creating a closed-loop manufacturing process. This is a significant step towards making any consumer product a little more sustainable.
