ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES | SEPTEMBER 2025 10 EMERGING TECHNOLOGY BUILDING LIVING MATERIAL FROM FUNGI Researchers at Empa’s Cellulose and Wood Materials laboratory, Switzer- land, developed a bio-based material that is biodegradable, tear-resistant, and has versatile functional properties. The new material requires minimal processing and does not use chemicals. For its base, the team used the mycelium of the split-gill mushroom. Typically, mycelial fibers (hyphae) are cleaned and chemically processed if needed. The Empa scientists chose a different approach, using whole mycelium. As it grows, the fungus not only forms hyphae, but also an extracellular matrix of fiber-like macromolecules, proteins, and other biological sub- stances. The team chose a strain of split-gill mushroom that produces high levels of two macromolecules, the long-chain polysaccharide schizophyllan and the soap-like protein hydrophobin. Hydrophobins collect at interfaces between polar and apolar liquids, for example water and oil. Schizophyllan is a nanofiber, less than a nanometer thick but more than a thousand times as long. Together, these biomolecules give the living mycelium properties that make it suitable for a wide range of applications. The researchers demonstrated two possible applications for the living material, an emulsion and a plastic-like film. One challenge with emulsions is to stabilize the mixtures so they do not separate. A benefit of the schizophyllan fibers and the hydrophobins is that they act as emulsifiers, and the fungus keeps releasing more of these molecules. Further, the fungal filaments and their extracellular molecules are nontoxic, biologically compatible, and edible. The living fungal network is also suitable for classic materials applications. In a second experiment, the team manufactured the mycelium into thin films. Other promising applications include biodegradable moisture sensors, fungal batteries, and paper batteries. www.empa.ch. ORIGAMI SUPPORTS NEW CLASS OF MATERIALS Georgia Tech scientists are part of an international team using origami as the foundation for next-generation materials that can both act as a solid and predictably deform. They say their research could lead to innovations in everything from heart stents to airplane wings. The team includes colleagues from Princeton University, University of Michigan, and University of Trento. The challenge is using physics to find a way to predictably model which creases to use and when, in order to achieve the best results. When considering origami-inspired materials, physicists start with a flat sheet that is carefully creased to create a specific 3D shape, with the folds determining how the material behaves. The method is limited because only parallelogram-based origami folding, which uses shapes like squares and rectangles, had previously been modeled and only allowed limited types of deformation. “From our models and physical tests, we found that trapezoid faces have an entirely different class of responses,” says researcher James McInerney. The new designs exhibit the ability to change their shape in two distinct ways—“breathing” by expanding and contracting evenly, and “shearing” by deforming in a twisting motion. “We learned that we can use trapezoid faces in origami to constrain the system from bending in certain directions, which provides different functionality than parallelogram faces,” adds McInerney. gatech.edu. University of Tokyo scientists developed a digital laboratory to autonomously synthesize thin film samples and measure their material properties. The system demonstrates advanced automatic and autonomous materials synthesis for data and robotdriven materials science. www.u-tokyo.ac.jp. BRIEF This thin mycelial film is almost transparent, has good tensile strength, and could be used as a living bioplastic. Courtesy of Empa. Researchers model how various origami structures made from trapezoidal subunits (i) respond to stresses like compression (ii) and stretching (iii). Courtesy of J.P. McInerney et al., Nat. Commun., 2025, doi.org/10.1038/ s41467-025-57089-x.
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