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An increasingly difficult issue to combat is the pollution of electronic waste. A group of Austrian scientists are working on a solution to the problem of e-waste by using mushroom skins to make a new type of material.
Really. According to the proof-of-concept paper published in Science Advances, these materials are showing some incredible promise as a possible replacement for plastic printed circuit boards.
The majority of electronic products are made of substrates that are made of non-recyclable plastic.
Roughly 50 million metric ton of e-waste is generated each year.
Martin Kaltenbrunner, a researcher at Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria and one of the scientists on the project, told New Scientist that the part that is the most difficult to recycle is the substrates. The largest part of the electronics is it.
While researching whether it was possible to make insulation out of mushroom skin, the scientists discovered that mycelium-covered mushrooms in particular were surprisingly "robust, flexible, and heat." All of the qualities you could possibly need in electronics.
The products have the potential to last for a long time if they are not exposed to UV light. When it's time to sunset the device, the substrate can be placed in the soil, where it will biodegrade, so it won't have to be recycled.
The results have been pretty good. The material was tested by soldering a computer chip into it, and the researchers say the mushroom skin did a good job. The hope is that one day this mycelium material will be the standard for printed circuit boards, flexible electronics, and even some medical devices.
Andrew Adamatzky is a computer scientist at the University of the West of England.
Mushroom skin could be used to make a computer chip.
According to reports, Musk has been telling friends about the benefits of mushrooms.
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