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Architectural Self-Assembled Fungal Mycelium for Nanofluidic Ion Regulation
Zhenyuan Niu1, Qilong Cheng1, Yanpei Tian1
1School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana 47907, United States.
ACS Nano
|April 23, 2026
Summary
Fungal mycelium offers a novel, shape-adaptable nanofluidic platform. This green material enables scalable fabrication of ion-regulating devices with tunable properties, overcoming limitations of conventional methods.
Area of Science:
- Materials Science
- Biotechnology
- Nanotechnology
Background:
- Conventional nanofluidic platforms struggle to integrate ion regulation, structural adaptability, and scalable manufacturing.
- Developing sustainable and versatile materials for nanofluidics is crucial for next-generation devices.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore fungal mycelium as a self-grown, morphology-adaptable nanofluidic medium.
- To demonstrate the fabrication of diverse nanofluidic architectures from mycelium without chemical modification.
- To characterize the ion transport properties and tunability of mycelium-based nanofluidic materials.
Main Methods:
- Utilizing blue oyster mycelium for self-grown fabrication of 1D, 2D, and 3D structures.
- Employing lyophilization and mechanical shaping for architecture formation.
- Measuring ionic conductivity and surface charge of the mycelium-based materials.
Main Results:
- Successfully fabricated tunable nanofluidic architectures (fibers, membranes, foams) from fungal mycelium.
- Preserved interconnected hyphal nanochannels with naturally negative surface charge (-1.85 to -2.77 mC m-2).
- Achieved stable ionic conductivities (0.2-0.5 mS cm-1) in dilute KCl, significantly exceeding bulk values.
Conclusions:
- Fungal mycelium presents a biocompatible, environmentally benign, and scalable platform for nanofluidics.
- The shape-adaptable nature of mycelium enables novel applications in green ionic devices.
- This work establishes mycelium as a promising material for advanced nanofluidic applications.
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