High-Performance Engineered Composites Biofabrication Using Fungi

Various natural polymers offer sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based adhesives, enabling the creation of high-performance engineered materials. However, additional chemical modifications and complicated manufacturing procedures remain unavoidable. Here, a sustainable high-performance engineered composite that benefits from bonding strategies with multiple energy dissipation mechanisms dominated by chemical adhesion and mechanical interlocking is demonstrated via the fungal smart creative platform. Chemical adhesion is predominantly facilitated by the extracellular polymeric substrates and glycosylated proteins present in the fungal outer cell walls. The dynamic feature of non-covalent interactions represented by hydrogen bonding endows the composite with extensive unique properties including healing, recyclability, and scalable manufacturing. Mechanical interlocking involves multiple mycelial networks (elastic modulus of 2.8 GPa) binding substrates, and the fungal inner wall skeleton composed of chitin and β-glucan imparts product stability. The physicochemical properties of composite (modulus of elasticity of 1455.3 MPa, internal bond strength of 0.55 MPa, hardness of 82.8, and contact angle of 110.2°) are comparable or even superior to those of engineered lignocellulosic materials created using petroleum-based polymers or bioadhesives. High-performance composite biofabrication using fungi may inspire the creation of other sustainable engineered materials with the assistance of the extraordinary capabilities of living organisms.