Mushroom tiles are more environmentally friendly than traditional bricks and have rough surfaces like elephant leather to imitate the natural cooling process.
Mushroom bricks can help the cooling buildings effectively. Image: Nanyang University of Technology
Group of scientists at Nanyang University of Technology (NTU), Singapore, develop mushroom bricks to cool buildings more effectively, Phys On 2/4 reported. This type of brick is made from Mycelium – the root structure of the mushroom, also known as the fungal – and organic waste, more environmentally friendly than traditional construction materials. In particular, the brick surface simulates elephant skin texture, imitating their natural cooling process in hot climates.
Elephants have no sweat glands. Instead, they regulate body temperature based on the slots and wrinkles on the skin – texture that increases water retention and cooling through evaporation. The team applied this natural cooling mechanism to make mushroom bricks, helping to adjust the temperature in buildings, especially in hot climates.
Composite material is linked to mycelium created by growing mushrooms on organic materials such as sawdust or agricultural waste. When the mushrooms grow, it binds to organic material into solid, porous composite materials. In the new study, NTU scientists use oysteride (PLEUROTUS ostreatus) and bamboo scrap collected from a furniture store.
These two components are mixed with oats and water and then closed into the hexagonal mold with a texture inspired by the skin of the biological design and ecological design company BiOSEA. Mushroom bricks are placed in the dark to develop for about two weeks, then remove it from the hexagonal mold and continue to develop for another two weeks with the same conditions.
Finally, the bricks are dried in the oven at 48 degrees Celsius for three days. This final step eliminates all the remaining moisture, preventing the fungal growth.
In the test, rough cooling mushroom bricks are 25% more effective than flat bricks. When exposed to simulation rain, they even increase the cooling efficiency by 70%. This shows that rough mushroom bricks are likely to be suitable for tropical climate in reality.
“The insulation material is put into the walls of buildings more and more to improve the efficiency of energy use, but most of them are synthetic materials and cause environmental consequences throughout the life cycle. Composite material is associated with the fungal fungus is a highly porous biodegradable material, helping it become a good insulation,” said Professor Le Ferrand at NTU.
Although the cooling capacity has been proven, the application of actual construction projects will require the research team to continue improving mushroom bricks. They are seeking to increase stability and mechanical strength, while increasing the production scale of this brick.