The species Ganoderma lucidum is covered with a skin that insulates the current well and can act as a substrate for the chips.
Scientists from Johannes Kepler University in Austria have found a way to make effective elements for microcircuits from mushrooms. They explained this in a paper published in Science Advances.
The soft matter physics team was investigating how materials made from fungi could be used in a variety of applications. They found that the skin of one of the species, Ganoderma lucidum, could replace plastic or other non-degradable materials that serve as a substrate for electronic chips.
“There was some luck in that,” department head Martin Kaltenbrunner told CNN.
The substrate is an important element of the electrical circuit that insulates and cools conductive metals. Typically, the substrate is made of plastic that is discarded after use and does not decompose naturally.
A team led by Doris Danninger and Roland Pruckner turned their attention to a fungus that often grows on rotting hardwoods in Europe and East Asia. Ganoderma lucidum develops a mycelial husk to protect the tree and itself from those who wish to feast. This leather turned out to be a good insulator, so scientists decided to extract it, dry it and use it in electronics.
Experiments have shown that the paper-thin Ganoderma lucidum mycelium is slightly less insulating than plastic, but sufficient to operate an electrical circuit safely and can also withstand temperatures in excess of 200 degrees Celsius. It turns out that such mushrooms are easy to grow on wood waste, and no less easy to process.
“Our mycelium is in an advantageous position because it can be stored for a long time if kept dry, but completely decomposes in two weeks or less in regular household compost,” stressed Martin Kaltenbrunner.
Although Austrian scientists are far from industrial production of cork substrates, they believe that biodegradable leather could be a good alternative for use in electronics that do not require long electrical circuits, such as wearable sensors, proximity tags (NFC) and mobile devices. In the future, the technology can be applied more widely if the growth of the mycelium can be controlled so that it is uniform and easily reproducible.
Scientists have previously grown ‘zombie’ mushrooms in the lab to help treat cancer and viral diseases. The genus Cordyceps has hundreds of species that can enslave other living organisms and turn them into their puppets.
Source: Focus
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