3D printed fungi

Natural resources are currently becoming increasingly interesting in the context of additive manufacturing. For filament printing or the 3D printing of pasty materials, scientists are turning to biopolymers that, in combination with other materials, enable the additive construction of molded and designed parts.

Fungi as a energy storage

In addition to corn starch for the production of polylactic acid (PLA) or pectin from citrus fruit peels, fungal mycelium is also increasingly becoming a focus of researchers. The mycelium of the mold Aspergillus niger, which is a byproduct of many biotechnological processes, contains up to 25 percent chitin. Chitin is a biopolymer found particularly in the shells of insects and crab shells.

In this lecture, Prof. Dr. Sascha Peters will present current projects for the development of 3D printing with fungal mycelium. He will be using the principle of a 3D-printed mushroom battery, currently being developed at Empa in Switzerland by Gustav Nyström and Carolina Reyes.

In the “Mycoustics” project, funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMFTR), Fraunhofer IWU is currently developing a process chain for the additive manufacturing of a loudspeaker cabinet with living mushroom mycelium. In a single process step, both sound-reflecting and sound-absorbing surfaces are to be created, thus influencing the sound experience.

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