Beneath the bark of a decaying log, a mycelial network weaves a structure so dense and strong that, with the right treatment, it can replace animal leather, polystyrene foam, or even building blocks. The mycomaterials industry has moved beyond laboratory promises to become an active research area with measurable results.
Animal-free leather: mycelium on cotton
A recent development combines submerged fermentation of Aspergillus niger on a cotton textile base to produce an elastic biocomposite with a leather-like finish in just five days. Spectroscopic analyses confirmed the chemical incorporation of fungal chitin with cotton cellulose, and mechanical tests showed tensile strength and abrasion resistance comparable to the demands of real-world use in leather goods.
Insulating foam: mycelium as a construction material
In architecture and construction, the challenge is not just growing mycelium but making it structurally competitive. A 2025 study coupled mycelium to 3D-printed scaffolds with gyroid geometry, achieving composites with significantly higher mechanical strength than mycelium alone, in addition to thermal insulation, fire resistance, and hydrophobicity — key properties for replacing petroleum-derived materials in infrastructure.
Hybrid 3D printing
Another research group explored mycelial colonization on 3D-printed parts of pure polylactic acid (PLA) and PLA combined with hemp fiber, using Fomes fomentarius — the same tinder fungus that has accompanied humanity since the Neolithic era. The mycelium minimally affected the mechanical properties of pure PLA but showed more marked and time-dependent effects in the hemp variant, opening the door to custom-designed hybrid biocomposites.
Why it matters
Mycomaterials combine three advantages rarely found together: they are biodegradable, produced with low-cost inputs, and do not depend on livestock farming or petrochemicals. Current research no longer asks if mycelium can replace conventional materials, but in what specific applications it matches or exceeds their performance.
References
- Tewari S, Singh P, Reshamwala SMS, Bhatt L, Kale RD. Fabrication of Cotton-Mycelium based Biocomposite (CMBB) via submerged fermentation for sustainable vegan leather: a novel green approach. Bioresour Technol. 2025;441:133624. PMID: 41238134. DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2025.133624
- Sharma D, Le Ferrand H. 3D printed gyroid scaffolds enabling strong and thermally insulating mycelium-bound composites for greener infrastructures. Nat Commun. 2025;16(1):5775. PMID: 40595784. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-61369-x
- Panjalipoursangari N, Ou Y, Schmidt B, Müller WH, Völlmecke C. Impact of Fomes fomentarius growth on the mechanical properties of material extrusion additively manufactured PLA and PLA/Hemp biopolymers. Fungal Biol Biotechnol. 2025;12(1):14. PMID: 41206464. DOI: 10.1186/s40694-025-00205-9