According to the Fraunhofer Institute, soundproofing panels used in walls or room fittings are made of mineral fibres or synthetic foams that are not sustainable or easily recycled. In a bid to bring to market an eco-friendlier and more effective alternative, Fraunhofer UMSICHT is working with Fraunhofer IBP to develop more sustainable sound-absorbing materials.
“There’s currently a focus on vegetal substrates and mycelium for the development of new materials,” said Julia Krayer, project manager at Fraunhofer UMSICHT in Oberhausen. Mycelium consists of a network of filament-like hyphae which grow underground and can span over a square kilometre.
For this project, Krayer and colleagues are growing hyphae in a lab. This mycelium is mixed with a vegetal substrate consisting of straw, wood, and waste from food production, and then printed into the desired shape with a 3D printer that enables the creation of a predefined porous structure within the absorber.
“The mycelial hyphae spread throughout the substrate and create a solid structure,” Krayer said in a statement. Once the mycelium has permeated the fine-grained substrate, the product is dried in a kiln to kill the fungus. The cell walls of the resulting material are open and will absorb sound. With its open cells and 3D-printed porous structure, it is claimed to be ideal for soundproofing purposes.
Roman Wack, a project partner from Fraunhofer IBP in Stuttgart, said: “The material, which is permeated by mycelium, has a solid structure. This means that much thinner layers of it could be used to make sound absorbers.”
A team at Fraunhofer UMSICHT is currently producing a range of prototypes for a sustainable sound absorber, which will then be tested at Fraunhofer IBP.
The prospect of using mycelium as a base material for fungal faux leather, fabric and plastic is also said to look promising and research is underway to investigate this.
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