In Montana, engineers have developed a new building material made from fungus mycelium and bacterial cells. The findings demonstrate that the low-temperature, living-cell-based material has self-repairing properties and could be a sustainable alternative to high-emission construction materials like concrete.
Notably, the mycelium and bacterial materials developed by Chelsea Heveran, Assistant Professor at Montana State University, and her team retained their functionality for at least a month. Similar biomaterials typically remain viable for only a few days or weeks. When the bacteria remain alive within the material for extended periods, their cells may have more time to perform beneficial functions, such as self-repair or contamination removal.
While self-healing and remediation were not tested in this study, the enhanced viability of these materials provides a basis for these capabilities.
The researchers aim for their new biomaterials to serve as alternatives to high-carbon-footprint construction materials, such as cement, which contributes up to 8% of global human-generated carbon dioxide emissions. The next step is to optimize these materials further by extending the lifespan of the cells and developing methods for efficient large-scale manufacturing.