Project: #5
Mycelium and fibre waste derived sustainable biocomposites
Anupama Amarasekera
Fossil fuel based synthetic foams are widely used in packaging and insulation applications. These were lauded as breakthrough inventions once but gradually evolved as materials of major concern due to their non-biodegradable nature and large carbon footprints from entire life cycle with significant impact on climate.
For example, an estimated 44,000 tonnes and 340,000 tonnes of expanded polystyrene are consumed in Australia and India, respectively each year. Importantly, 1/4th to 1/3rd of this ends up in landfill annually resulting in devastating impact on environment. Mycelium-based foams, produced by root-like networks from mushroom called hyphae are emerging as a potential substitute for plastic-based foams. Current strategy is to employ a waste-to-value strategy by using agricultural waste/textile waste as a growing media for the mycelium. We plan to identify the efficacious strain of mycelium and identify a corresponding combination from various fibrous materials and understand the fundamental of interaction and bonding between textile derived fibres and mycelium fibres. Thereby, develop a strategy to improve the mechanical properties because a key drawback of the currently produce mycelium foams. While to an extent the foams meet secondary packing requirements, these foams cannot meet the requirements of primary packaging and insulation products like insulation boards. Thus, we plan to understand the role of agro-fibre waste components like cellulose, lignin, and hemicellulose from fibres like coir, hemp, cotton, and animal fibres like wool will be examined.