Effect of pre-pressure on compressive behavior of a natural biocomposite

The unbridled growth of bio-hazardous waste generation is a global environmental challenge that has attractedresearchers’ attention to the development of new generations of engineered biocompatible and biodegradable materials.Fully natural biocomposites made of wood fibers extracted from agricultural residues and bound together by sustainablegrowth of fungal network matrix are widely under investigation over the last few years as potential alternatives tosynthetic foams. In this study, three cylindrical samples of a mycelium-based biocomposite with identical compositionand dimensions but different pre-pressures were fabricated, and their mass-specific compressive properties were studiedat different compression levels. This biocomposite material consists of a natural substrate of shredded leaf sheaths ofdate palm, as the reinforcement fibers, within a network of Pleurotus, a fungal mycelium species, as the binding matrix.Results showed that compressive strength varies with pre-loading and ranges from ۰.۳۴ to ۴.۵۵ MPa, which is comparablewith synthetic packaging foams.

کلیدواژه ها:

Biocomposite ، wood fibers ، fungal matrix ، compressive properties