Researchers studying MUSHROOMS for their potential to revolutionize material science

• Mushrooms, built from tiny hyphae, exhibit varying strengths and flexibilities based on their internal structure. White button mushrooms have a random hyphal arrangement, providing uniform strength, while maitake mushrooms have a directional structure, offering higher strength in specific directions.
• Researchers dehydrated mushrooms and used electron microscopes and compression tests to study their properties. They found that the arrangement of hyphae significantly affects the material’s strength and flexibility.
• 3D computer simulations revealed that vertically aligned hyphal structures could increase material stiffness by nearly 100 percent. Machine learning is being used to predict and optimize these structures for specific applications.
• The potential impacts are broad, including more efficient and durable components in aerospace, bone supports in medical devices and sustainable alternatives to leather and plastic packaging.
• Artificial intelligence plays a crucial role in simulating and optimizing fungal structures. The next steps involve 3D printing AI-generated designs and validating their performance, potentially leading to a new era of sustainable, high-performance materials.

Researchers from Binghamton University (part of the State University of New York system) and the University of California, Merced are turning to an unlikely source – mushrooms – for inspiration.

These humble fungi, long appreciated for their culinary uses, are now being studied for their potential to revolutionize material science. The research published in Advanced Engineering Materials reveals how the microscopic architecture of mushrooms can be harnessed to create materials that are both strong and flexible. This breakthrough could have significant implications for industries ranging from aerospace to construction.

Mushrooms are built from tiny, thread-like structures called hyphae. These hyphae, which are long chains of fungal cells, work together to create surprisingly strong and adaptable structures. The key to their strength lies in their unique organization.

While some mushrooms like the common white button variety have a random arrangement of hyphae, others, such as the maitake mushroom, have a more organized, directional structure. This difference in arrangement can dramatically affect the material’s strength and flexibility. (Related: A new kind of magic mushroom: New sustainable material made of mushrooms can provide housing, food security, water filtration.)

To understand the mechanics behind these properties, the research team dehydrated both types of mushrooms, eliminating the impact of water. They then used powerful electron microscopes to examine the internal structure and conducted compression tests to measure the mushrooms’ strength under different pressures.

The white button mushrooms, with their random arrangement of hyphae, showed consistent strength regardless of the direction of compression. This uniformity is due to the randomness of the hyphal arrangement.

In contrast, maitake mushrooms, with their directional hyphal structure, demonstrated much higher strength when compressed in the direction of their aligned threads. This directional organization allows the maitake to support more weight while still maintaining flexibility.

The researchers then turned to 3D computer simulations to model the mushroom-like structures as networks of tiny beams. By changing the orientation of the threads, they found that the material’s stiffness could increase by nearly 100 percent when the threads were arranged vertically. This discovery suggests that the arrangement of materials, rather than the materials themselves, can significantly affect their strength and flexibility.

The mushroom revolution is changing industries

Study co-author and Binghamton assistant professor Mir Jalil Razavi emphasized the potential of this approach. “There is so much we can still learn from nature,” he said. “We are just getting started with this kind of research.”

The team plans to 3D print prototypes based on AI-generated designs and subject them to rigorous stress testing. The goal is to fully validate the computational predictions and create a reproducible design methodology.

The implications of this research are far-reaching. In the aerospace industry, where materials need to be strong yet lightweight, this new approach could lead to more efficient and durable components.

Medical device manufacturers are also interested in the potential to create bone supports that match the strength and feel of real bone. Companies experimenting with mushroom-based alternatives to leather and plastic packaging can fine-tune their materials by controlling fungal growth patterns.

The role of artificial intelligence (AI) in this research is pivotal. Deep learning models now allow researchers to simulate tens of thousands of filaments at once, a task that would be virtually impossible manually. This technology not only handles the complexity of the designs but also allows for rapid exploration of vast design spaces.

Fungi have been evolving for millions of years, fine-tuning their cellular systems to balance resilience and flexibility. This evolutionary design process has produced structures that human engineers can only dream of creating from scratch. The research builds on a growing body of work in biomimetics, the science of emulating nature’s designs to solve complex problems.

The potential applications of mushroom-inspired materials are vast. From construction materials that can withstand seismic events to lightweight yet strong aerospace components, the future of material science could be rooted in the forest floor.

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Sources include:

StudyFinds.org

Advanced.OnlineLibrary.Wiley.com

Binghamton.edu

Highways.today

Brighteon.com