Groundbreaking Nature Study: 3D-Printed Porous Scaffolds Provide Robust Insulating Mycelium-Based Composites for Green Building
Pain points in the construction industry: The construction sector accounts for 37% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Traditional brick production emits 0.8-1.2 kg of CO₂ per brick. Insulation materials (such as mineral wool and EPS) have significant environmental impacts throughout their life cycles. By 2050, related carbon emissions may increase by 50%, whereas sustainable practices can reduce emissions by 40%.
Limitations of bio-based materials: Although bio-based materials (such as bamboo and mycelium) are low-carbon and carbon-sequestering, they have issues such as unstable quality, sensitivity to moisture, flammability, and poor durability.
Traditional MBCs have shortcomings: Mycelium-based composites (MBCs) are sustainable biomaterials, but their yield strength is only 0.01-0.72 MPa, and the growth of mycelium is uneven, making it difficult to meet construction requirements.
By 3D printing wooden-polylactic acid (PLA) porous spiral scaffolds, we address the issues of low mechanical strength and uneven mycelium growth in traditional MBCs, while enhancing their thermal insulation, fire resistance, hydrophobicity, and durability, ultimately developing sustainable composite materials to replace environmentally harmful building materials.
(a) Core Materials and Preparation
3D printed scaffolds: Print a gyroid structure (TPMS) using recycled filament made of 40% wood + 60% PLA, as it optimizes surface area and strength.
Mycelium Cultivation: Select Ganoderma lucidum strains and use a 10% w/v malt PMA solution (peptone + malt + agar) as a nutrient source. Incubate for 21 days at 23°C and 80% humidity. Samples are divided into "inactive" (growth terminated by drying at 48°C) and "active" (mycelium remains viable) groups.
Key Testing Methods
Covers mechanics (compression, shear), thermal insulation (thermal conductivity, infrared imaging), fire resistance (burn area/weight change), hydrophobicity (contact angle, water absorption test), durability (300 days environmental exposure), and chemical analysis (XPS, FTIR).
Optimization of Mycelium Growth
Malt concentration: 10 w/v% Malt balances the mycelium's "exploration" and "utilization" behaviors, covering 70% of the pore space of the scaffold in 14 days and forming a dense layer in 21 days.
Support pore rate: 90% - The high porosity allows for good air circulation (sufficient oxygen and easy CO₂ discharge), resulting in the highest mycelial density; 50% - The low porosity leads to stagnant air, resulting in sparse mycelium.
(2) Improvement of Material Performance
Mechanical properties: MBCs with 50% porosity exhibit a yield strength of 7.29±0.65 MPa (far exceeding the traditional MBCs' 0.01–0.72 MPa); for samples with 90% porosity, the yield strength increases by 77.7%, and the specific energy absorption increases by 133.3%.
Thermal insulation performance: 90% porosity MBCs have a thermal conductivity as low as 0.012W/mK, superior to traditional PU foam; gradient design (such as cell size gradient) further optimizes insulation, with a temperature difference twice that of PU houses.
Fire resistance and hydrophobicity: MBCs inhibit fire through char formation, with the sample having a 50% porosity gradient exhibiting the smallest combustion area; the mycelium increases the contact angle from 85.5° to 130.9°, and reduces the water absorption rate by 2.6 times.
Durability: Non-active MBCs (dried mycelium) were placed in three environments for 300 days, with no significant changes in mechanical properties; active MBCs experienced a strength reduction of 2.82 times due to the degradation of the scaffold by the mycelium over 100 days.
Technical breakthrough: The synergy of 3D-printed helical scaffolds and mycelium enables MBCs to possess both brick-level strength and foam-level thermal insulation, resolving the "strength-function" contradiction of bio-based materials.
Application value: It can replace clay bricks and PU foam, and be used for false walls, insulation panels, etc. A miniature "mycelium house" has verified its insulation advantages, providing a new path for carbon reduction in construction.
Limitations: Performance improvement is most significant at high porosity (90%), requiring further optimization of the "porosity-performance" balance; production cycle is longer than traditional materials, but the embodied energy is lower.
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