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Schmidt B, Freidank-Pohl C, Zillessen J, Stelzer L, Guitar TN, Lühr C, Müller H, Zhang F, Hammel JU, Briesen H, Jung S, Gusovius HJ, Meyer V. Mechanical, physical and thermal properties of composite materials produced with the basidiomycete Fomes fomentarius. Fungal Biol Biotechnol 2023; 10:22. [PMID: 38049892 PMCID: PMC10694974 DOI: 10.1186/s40694-023-00169-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2023] [Accepted: 10/26/2023] [Indexed: 12/06/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND To achieve climate neutrality, fundamentally new concepts of circularity need to be implemented by the building sector as it contributes to 40% of anthropogenic CO2 emission. Fungal biotechnology can make a significant contribution here and help eliminate fossil dependency for building material production. Recently, we have shown that the medicinal polypore Fomes fomentarius feeds well on renewable lignocellulosic biomass and produces composite materials that could potentially replace fossil fuel-based expanded polystyrene as insulation material. RESULTS In this study, we explored the mechanical, physical, and thermal properties of F. fomentarius-based composite materials in more detail and determined key performance parameters that are important to evaluate the usability of F. fomentarius-based composite materials in the construction sector. These parameters were determined according to European standards and included compressive strength, modulus of elasticity, thermal conductivity, water vapour permeability, and flammability of uncompressed composites as well as flexural strength, transverse tensile strength, and water absorption capacity of heat-pressed composites, among others. We could show that uncompressed composites obtained from F. fomentarius and hemp shives display a thermal conductivity of 0.044 W (m K)-1 which is in the range of natural organic fibres. A water vapour permeability of 1.72 and classification into flammability class B1 clearly surpasses fossil-based insulation materials including expanded polystyrene and polyurethane. We could furthermore show that heat-pressing can be used to reliably generate stiff and firm particleboards that have the potential to replace current wood-based particleboards that contain synthetic additives. X-ray microcomputed tomography finally visualized for the first time the growth of hyphae of F. fomentarius on and into the hemp shive substrates and generated high-resolution images of the microstructure of F. fomentarius-based composites. CONCLUSION This study demonstrates that fungal-based composites produced with F. fomentarius partially meet or even exceed key performance parameters of currently used fossil fuel-based insulation materials and can also be used to replace particleboards.
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Affiliation(s)
- Bertram Schmidt
- Chair of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Technische Universität Berlin, Str. des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carsten Freidank-Pohl
- Chair of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Technische Universität Berlin, Str. des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany
| | - Justus Zillessen
- Chair of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Technische Universität Berlin, Str. des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany
| | - Lisa Stelzer
- Chair of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Technische Universität Berlin, Str. des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany
| | - Tamara Núñez Guitar
- Chair of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Technische Universität Berlin, Str. des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany
| | - Carsten Lühr
- Department Systems Process Engineering, Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469, Potsdam, Germany
| | - Henri Müller
- School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Chair of Process Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Fangxing Zhang
- School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Chair of Process Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Jörg U Hammel
- Institute of Materials Physics, Helmholtz-Zentrum Hereon, Max-Planck-Str 1, 21502, Geesthacht, Germany
| | - Heiko Briesen
- School of Life Sciences Weihenstephan, Chair of Process Systems Engineering, Technical University of Munich, 85354, Freising, Germany
| | - Sascha Jung
- Chair of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Technische Universität Berlin, Str. des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany
| | - Hans-Jörg Gusovius
- Department Systems Process Engineering, Leibniz-Institute for Agricultural Engineering and Bioeconomy (ATB), Max-Eyth-Allee 100, 14469, Potsdam, Germany.
| | - Vera Meyer
- Chair of Applied and Molecular Microbiology, Technische Universität Berlin, Str. des 17. Juni 135, 10623, Berlin, Germany.
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