Abstract: Over the past two years, I partly pivoted my research from deployable thin sheet origami to exploring mycelium or fungi-based composite materials. These biomaterials have emerged as a genre of low-cost, low embodied carbon, sustainable, and potentially self-healing materials for use in packaging, consumer products, furniture, architectural components and more. The mycelium has been shown to grow well with sawdust, hemp, straw, coffee grounds, and other plant-derived substrates, enabling composite materials that can fully biodegrade at end-of-life. However, the true nature of how mycelium bonds and integrates with other materials is unknown which limits our ability to use hybrid or composite mycelium systems. In this talk, we explore the morphology and underlying mechanics of how mycelium bonds with other materials. We study both solid materials such as woods, ceramics, metals and polymers, and flexible textiles of various organic and inorganic materials. We conduct experimental shear pull-out tests of coupons and fibers grown within the biomaterial and explore the bonding interfaces with microscopic imaging. Our results show that mycelium can bond well with a variety of materials. Surprisingly the bonding with Copper, Zinc, Nickel, Iron, and their alloys are particularly strong, as ions from these metals encourage enhanced growth of mycelium network. We further show that the contact surface area, texture, and porosity of the materials also play a role in the bond strength. The work gives insight into how to harness mycelium as a bonding agent for multi-material hybrid systems for various applications in engineering and architecture.

Bio: Evgueni Filipov is an Associate Professor in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His research focuses on the underlying mechanics of different structural systems, including thin sheet origami, woven baskets, and mycelium bio-hybrid materials. He holds M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a B.S. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He has received the Simons Foundation Pivot Fellowship (2023), the ASCE EMI Leonardo da Vinci Award (2023), the NSF CAREER Award (2020), the DARPA Young Faculty Award (2018), the Cozzarelli Prize from the National Academy of Sciences (2015), and the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship. Learn more at his lab's website: http://drsl.engin.umich.edu/