The fabric can clean and repair itself, opening the door to recyclable fashion and biodegradable packaging
Chinese scientists have developed a way to create clothing and textiles from a fungus that can self-clean and regenerate.
The fabric can also be customised – for example to add colour or protect the wearer from ultraviolet (UV) rays – with the help of other microorganisms, according to a study published on Friday.
A persistent challenge for engineered living materials (ELMs) has been scaling up microscopic living cells into large, durable structures that remain alive and functional.
A research team led by the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology tried to address this challenge by developing a method to make ELMs using a fungus called Cordyceps militaris.
Also known as caterpillar fungus, it is widely used in traditional Chinese medicine and can create threadlike structures.
The study highlighted the material’s sustainability. Environmental assessments confirmed it degraded within 41 days, raising the possibility the material could be used to make circular fashion – clothing that is designed to be reused or recycled.
The team produced a dress to illustrate the living material’s potential, but the researchers said its significance went beyond wearable products. They described it as “a programmable material platform that combines macroscopic structure with retained biological responsiveness and modular functions”.
“The broader concept could extend beyond clothing wherever a biodegradable structure with locally programmable biological functions is useful,” Li Ke, the first author of the paper published in the journal Science Advances, said in an interview.
Li said the caterpillar fungus naturally formed interconnected networks of microscopic fibres known as hyphae, making them ideal for producing living materials.
The researchers cultivated the fungus to create small pellets, which they then assembled to form continuous and flexible sheets, before adding glycerol to make them more flexible.
The finished material can also respond to the environment and repair itself. Placing fresh fungal pellets on damaged areas caused the material to grow new self-cleaning fibres.
“A living textile does not mean that the dress is constantly growing during normal use,” Li said, adding that under dry conditions with limited exposure to nutrients, biological activity was suspended.
As well as being self-repairing, these fibres are also naturally waterproof, thereby reducing the need for synthetic chemical coatings.
The textile’s structure also acted as a “plug-and-play platform” that allowed engineered microbes to be added to perform additional functions, the team said.
For example, the researchers used an engineered yeast that locked onto the walls of the fungal cells to add colour. They also incorporated hyphae from a fungus called Aspergillus niger, which is rich in melanin, the substance that helps protect the body from UV radiation.
However, the technology is still at the research-prototype stage and Li warned that the material would not currently provide a direct replacement for everyday fabrics such as cotton or polyester.
Instead of being used to make long-lasting clothing, the team said it could be used to create sustainable, short-term products such as temporary fashion, exhibition textiles, art installations and biodegradable packaging.
But for the product to become commercially viable, researchers will need to find a way to make the manufacturing process more cost-effective.
Scaling up will need cheaper nutrient sources, a more efficient fermentation and filtration process, and more consistent quality.
At present the culture accounts for more than 95 per cent of production costs, while adding glycerol and other steps also significantly increases the cost.
The material will also need to be tested for qualities such as washability and breathability, as well as its ability to withstand humidity and wear and tear.
Li said the team was also looking for ways to reduce the need to add extra microbes so that the fungus itself could create functional molecules, such as pigments.
“In the longer term, synthetic gene circuits may enable biological functions to be activated only at selected locations, times or environmental conditions,” he added.
Source: https://www.scmp.com/