R. Aravinda Narayanan
Arrested fungal biofilms as low-modulus structural bio-composites: Water holds the key
Aravinda Narayanan, R.; Ahmed, Asma
Authors
Dr ASMA AHMED Asma.Ahmed@nottingham.ac.uk
Associate Professor in Chemical Andenvironmental Engineering
Abstract
Biofilms are self-assembling structures consisting of rigid microbial cells embedded in a soft biopolymeric extracellular matrix (ECM), and have been commonly viewed as being detrimental to health and equipment. In this work, we show that biofilms formed by a non-pathogenic fungus Neurospora discreta, are fungal bio-composites (FBCs) that can be directed to self-organize through active stresses to achieve specific properties. We induced active stresses by systematically varying the agitation rate during the growth of FBCs. By growing FBCs that are strong enough to be conventionally tensile loaded, we find that as agitation rate increases, the elongation strain at which the FBCs break, increases linearly, and their elastic modulus correspondingly decreases. Using results from microstructural imaging and thermogravimetry, we rationalize that agitation increases the production of ECM, which concomitantly increases the water content of agitated FBCs up to 250% more than un-agitated FBCs. Water held in the nanopores of the ECM acts a plasticizer and controls the ductility of FBCs in close analogy with polyelectrolyte complexes. This paradigm shift in viewing biofilms as bio-composites opens up the possibility for their use as sustainable, biodegradable, low-modulus structural materials.
Citation
Aravinda Narayanan, R., & Ahmed, A. (2019). Arrested fungal biofilms as low-modulus structural bio-composites: Water holds the key. European Physical Journal E, 42, Article 134. https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2019-11899-2
Journal Article Type | Article |
---|---|
Acceptance Date | Sep 16, 2019 |
Online Publication Date | Oct 23, 2019 |
Publication Date | 2019 |
Deposit Date | Feb 13, 2024 |
Publicly Available Date | Feb 14, 2024 |
Journal | European Physical Journal E |
Print ISSN | 1292-8941 |
Publisher | EDP Sciences |
Peer Reviewed | Peer Reviewed |
Volume | 42 |
Article Number | 134 |
DOI | https://doi.org/10.1140/epje/i2019-11899-2 |
Public URL | https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/31158609 |
Publisher URL | https://link.springer.com/article/10.1140/epje/i2019-11899-2 |
Files
e190158
(1.5 Mb)
PDF
You might also like
UV-filter pollution: current concerns and future prospects
(2021)
Journal Article
Fungal Solubilisation and Subsequent Microbial Methanation of Coal Processing Wastes
(2021)
Journal Article
Downloadable Citations
About Repository@Nottingham
Administrator e-mail: discovery-access-systems@nottingham.ac.uk
This application uses the following open-source libraries:
SheetJS Community Edition
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
PDF.js
Apache License Version 2.0 (http://www.apache.org/licenses/)
Font Awesome
SIL OFL 1.1 (http://scripts.sil.org/OFL)
MIT License (http://opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.html)
CC BY 3.0 ( http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/)
Powered by Worktribe © 2024
Advanced Search