ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Success and happiness are directly related to achievement of the goals set. A journey is easier
when you travel together. This report is the result and support by many people. It is a pleasant
aspect that I have now the opportunity to express my gratitude for all of them.

First of all, I immensely and whole heartedly thank god almighty for successful completion of
my project work. I would like to thank Ms. SEEMA principal of our institute for his support
and guidance.

I would like to thank our Head of the Department Ms.SANDRA MOHAN P And my guide

Ms SRUTHY Who helped a lot by giving instruction during the entire project. Her valuable
guidance and encouragements throughout the project work.

I am also expressed my deep gratitude to my seminar co-ordinator Ms.JUMI for his

valuable suggestions, guidance, expert, advice and constant encouragement for the completion of
my work.

I would like to thank each and every staff members for their cooperation and also thank my
friends and family for their suggestion and support.

NIBIN PRAKASH J

2101010992

i
 ABSTRACT

One of the major causes of an increase in the consumption of resources is the progress of
the construction industry. Although it leads to new technologies, it heavily contributes to
global warming. In this study, the use of sustainable construction materials from waste in
brick production with mycelium as a binder is investigated. The ability of mycelium, the
root fibers of fungi, obtained from microorganisms are used as stabilizing and binding
material on bricks. Forty-eight brick specimens from six design mixes were produced with a
size of 200 mm length× 90 mm width × 60 mm height. The mechanical tests conducted were
compressive and flexural strength. The weight changes were recorded against its age to
monitor the progress of mycelium growth inside the brick specimens. From the test, bricks
made from sawdust and rice bran with mycelium had an increase of 31.0% to 38.5% in
average compressive strength compared to the non-mycelium bricks, respectively.
Furthermore, the bricks with mycelium experienced an increase in both flexural strength
and midpoint displacement for all types of bricks (rice bran, sawdust, and clay). These
mycelium-induced bricks can reduce the use and consumption of traditional construction
materials with enhanced mechanical properties.

ii
 LIST OF CONTENTS

SL TITTLE PAGE
NO NO
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT i
ABSTRACT ii
LIST OF CONTENTS iii-iv
LIST OF FIGURES v
LIST OF TABLES vi
1 INTRODUCTION 1
1.1 GENERAL 1
1.2 MYCELIUM BRICKS 2
1.3 MYCELIUM BRICK TOWER 2-3
2 NEED AND OBJECTIVES 4
2.1 NEED 4
2.2 OBJECTIVE 4
3 METHODOLOGY OF WORK 5

4 EXPERIMENTAL STUDY 6
4.1 INTRODUCTION 6
4.2 PRELIMINARY LABORATORY WORK 6
4.3 COLLECTION OF MATERIAL FOR COLONIZING OF 6-7

MYCELIUM
4.3.1 MIXING OF MATERIAL IN THE PLASTIC BAG TO GROW 7-10
5 TESTING ON MYCELIUM BRICK 11
5.1 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH TEST 11
5.2 EFFLORESCENCE TEST 11
5.3 WATER ABSORPTION TEST 12
6 RESULTS 13

6.1 TEST RESULTS 13

iii
6.1.1 COMPRESSIVE TEST RESULTS 13
6.1.2 EFFLORESCENCE TEST RESULTS 14
6.1.3 WATER ABSORPTION TEST 15
7 MYCELIUM AS CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL 16
7.1 ADVANTAGES 16
7.2 DISADVANTAGES 16
8 FUTURE SCOPE 17

9 CONCLUSIONS 18
REFERENCES 19

iv
 LIST OF FIGURES

FIG NO TITTLE PAGE NO

1.1 MYCELIUM 1
1.2 MYCELIUM BRICK 2
1.3 HI-FI 3
4.1 AGRICULTURE WASTE AND MYCELIUM BAG 7
4.2 MYCELIUM FILLED BRICK MOULD 8
4.3 MYCELIUM COLONIZING IN AIR TIGHT 9
AND NON-AIR TIGHT
4.4 ADD IN JELLY IN MYCELIUM 10
4.5 10
MYCELIUM BRICK
5.1 COMPRESSION TESTING MACHINE 11
11
COMPRESSION TESTING ON MYCELIUM
5.2
BRICK
6.1 COMPRESSION TESTING RESULT ON MYCELIUM 13
BRICK
6.2 MYCELIUM BRICK SAMPLE 1 14

6.3 MYCELIUM BRICK SAMPLE 2 14

v
 LIST OF TABLES

TABLE TITTLE PAGE

NO NO
1 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH OF MYCELIUM BRICK 13
AND STANDARD TILE BRICK
2 EFFLORESCENCE TEST ON MYCELIUM BRICK AND 14
STANDARD TILE BRICK
3 WATER ABSORPTION OF MYCELIUM BRICK AND STANDARD
TILE BRICK

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MYCELIUM BRICKS SEMINAR REPORT 2023-2024

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL

Building practices, materials and technologies have evolved through ages. The use of soil, stone,
unprocessed timber, cement etc., commence the science and art of building construction. Hardly
any energy is spent in manufacturing and use of these natural materials for construction. Some
problems associated with the durability of the natural materials like soil, thatch/leaves, timber,
etc. lead to the exploration for durable building materials ever since the man started construction
activity. Burning bricks is one of the oldest and earliest method adopted using thermal energy for
manufacturing of durable building materials. Lime and lime based products; metal products
represent the other manufactured energy-consuming materials used for the construction.
Discovery of pozzolonic materials (natural inorganic binders) resulted in lime pozzolana (LP)
cement and this paved the way for the invention of Portland cement in 1824.Revolutionary
changes in every part of twentieth century was bought by steel and Portland cement. And so on
plastic and plastic products entered the construction industry. As we moved away from zero
energy materials to more modern materials for the construction activities, it became imminent to
spend more energy and natural resources. In the context of carbon emission reductions and the
issues of global warming, there is a need to pay attention to use of modern building materials
with reference to,

i. Natural Resources and Raw Materials Consumed,

ii. Impact on Environment,

iii. Energy Intensity of Materials

iv. Recycling and Safe Disposal.

fig 2.1 Mycelium

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1.2 MYCELIUM BRICKS

A mycelium brick is an organic brick that is formed from organic waste and the mycelium of the
fungus. Mycelium is the thin root-like fibers from fungi that run underneath the ground, when
dried it can be used as a super-strong, water, mold, and fire-resistant building material that can
be grown into specific forms, thus reducing the processing requirements. Spawn (mushroom
spores) are collected and placed in a PDA material for initiating the growth of mycelium fibers
from the spores. These fibers are transferred into the substrate and allowed to grow for a few
days. Substrate and the mycelium fibers are further condensed into a mold to form a brick. This
brick is burnt to get a strong green building material: Mycelium brick. The result obtained from
the compressive tests is 0.347N/mm², water absorption test is 33.81% this value is similar to the
values of the ecovative company.

Fig 1.2 Mycelium Brick

1.3 MYCELIUM BRICK TOWER

The organic brick structure known as 'Hy-Fi’ opened in the courtyard of MoMA’s PS1 space
in New York. Designed by David Benjamin of New York architects The Living, the tower was
designed as part of MoMA's Young Architects Program, and its construction centers around the
use of an innovative building material: organic, biodegradable bricks consisting of no more than
farm waste and a culture offungus that is grown to fit a brick- shaped mold.

Hy-Fi is the first large scale structure to use this mushroom brick technology, based on a
technique developed by Ecovative in 2007 and, until now, generally used to make packaging.
The bricks can be grown in 5 days, and are stacked to create a structure of three merging

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cylinders. The form is designed to draw breezes through the structure and cool the shaded
interior further.

The top layers of 'bricks' in the structure are made instead of the steel molds used to grow the
bricks. This is partly functional, reflecting more light into the interior of the structure, but it
also is a covert reference to the existing architecture of New York City, where low-rise red
brick structures are towered over by glossy skyscrapers.

fig 1.3 Hy-fi

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2. NEED AND OBJECTIVES

2.1 NEED

In the current scenario there is a lot of need for construction material that is cheap and
environment friendly. For this purpose, mycelium, bricks are the best choice because they are
grown not made. Besides making brick mycelium can be used in many different things it can
be used to grow structural frames to replace concrete. Also, it can be used to make chairs,
table all can be grown from mycelium. It can replace thermocouples. And there are many
usages of this technique in the future. It is a very vast topic of research.

2.2 OBJECTIVES

Mycelium brick is a great replacement against standard modular bricks. As the Bricks are
environmentally friendly as compared to standard bricks which causes too much pollution at
the time of hardening? Also, to provide clay soil deforestation occurs in standard brick while
it is not needed in mycelium bricks. Also, they can replace many materials that areproviding
harmful effects on our environment. Many researchers are doing work on it some of them
have used the mycelium as a binding material. So in spite of bricks, there are a lot of uses of
mycelium in future.

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3. METHODOLOGY OF WORK
Firstly, the mushroom mycelium was grown in plastic bags. For this we need some mushroom
seeds, agriculture waste, and water. The mushroom seeds are mixed in agriculture waste after
sterilization and then some water is added and then the bag is closed and left in a cool and dark
place to grow. Some chemicals also added to stop the growth of microbes that are present in
agriculture waste so that they cannot interfere with the mycelium growth. It will take somewhat
7 to 10 days to grow the mycelium. Then themycelium was transferred in the sterilized saw dust
and some food is added for mycelium toeat and then the mixture was left in a dark place for the
growth of mycelium. It will also take 7 days. After mycelium has eaten all the substrate the
mycelium was transferred into the brick mould and then it will have left in there for some time
until it takes its shape after that the brick is taken out from the brick mould and left to dry and
after drying it kept in the oven at 2000 C for some time so that the bacteria will die and we get
the hardened brick.

Collecting material for growth of mycelium

Growing mycelium

Filling the mould

Drying the product

Killing the bacteria in oven

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4. EXPERIMENTAL STUDY
4.1 INTRODUCTION

This section introduces the points of interest of improvement of the way toward making
mycelium blocks. In 2013, next to no information or none and know-how of making of
plastic blocks were accessible in the distributed writing. Because of this absence of data, the
investigation started on restricted accessible writing on mycelium blocks. The present
examination embraced a thorough experimentation process with a specific end goal to build
up the mycelium blocks innovation. The focal point of the investigation was to distinguish the
remarkable parameters that impacts the properties of plastic utilized as a development
material. Beyond what many would consider possible the waste plastic is utilized.

The point of the activity was to facilitate the advancement of this 'new' material later on to the
block business. Keeping in mind the end goal to streamline the advancement procedure, the
compressive quality is chosen as benchmark parameter. This isn't uncommon in light of the
fact that compressive quality has an inborn significance in the basic outline of block structure.
In spite of the fact that mycelium can be utilized as a part of various development material, for
example, asphalts, mycelium piece, mycelium seats, and so on.

4.2 PRELIMINARY LABORATORY WORK

The main objectives of the preliminary laboratory work were:

 To familiarize with the making of mycelium brick.

 To understand the effect of different substrate in the colonizing of mycelium.
 To observe the behavior of fresh mycelium brick.
 To understand basic mixture proportioning of different material of mycelium bricks.
 To develop the process of making the mycelium brick.

4.3 COLLECTION OF MATERIAL FOR COLONIZING OF MYCELIUM

Firstly, we have collected the mushroom seeds from the mushroom farm that is located in Delhi.
Also we have bought the agriculture waste from the farm. And we also taken some saw dust
from the factory of wood cutting which is also in Delhi. We have taken the chemicals to stop the

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growth of microbes of substrate like agriculture waste and saw dust. The chemicals are formalin
and fungicide. Also we have bought some cellophane tape from plastic material shop. Also we
have bought some cat food; jelly and energy drink to give the fungus as a food.

4.3.1 MIXING OF MATERIAL IN THE PLASTIC BAG TO GROW

Mycelium step-1

 Sterilize the Substrate i.e. the agriculture waste in this case.

 Take a plastic bag.

 Add the sterilized agriculture waste and formalin and fungicide.

 Add 2-3 mushroom seeds in it.

 Pack the plastic bag and place in a dark place for 3-7 days.

 After 3-7 days the mycelium will start growing

Fig 4.1 Agriculture Waste and Mycelium Bag

Trial -1

1. After growth of mycelium take a brick mould.

2. Add the mix in the brick mould that is made in step-1

3. Pack the mould with cellophane sheet to make it air tight.

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4. Leave the mould in the dark place for 3-5 days.

5. 5. After 5 days the mycelium should be grown but in this case it is not grownproperly. So
we move to next trial.

fig Fig 4.2 mycelium filled brick mould

Trial-2

1 Take the mix that is made in Step-1.

2 Fill the brick mould with the mix.

3 Add 20g of wheat flour in it.

4 Add some water and sugar also.

5 Again pack the mould with cellophane sheet.

6 But this time we made 2 moulds. One is air tight and in another mould we
makecut to allow some air to enter in it.
7 Leave it for 7 days in a dark and cool place

8 After 7 days we have seen that some mycelium has grown in the air tight mould.

9 And in the second mould mushroom has grown.

10 We leave the 2nd mould and take the first
mould
11 As we can see the 1st mould is not hard enough to convert in brick so again failure. Now
we have done Trial-3.

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fig 4.3 Mycelium Colonizing in Air Tight and Non-Air Tight

Trial 3

1 Take the mycelium that we have grown in trial 2.

2 Now this time we used the saw dust as substrate.

3 In this trial we have used saw dust one with sterilization and another
withoutsterilization.
4 Take brick mould and add some food to it.

5 In this trial we have added some jelly, energy drink lies Gatorade, Some cat food.

6 We have added the above material in different proportion.

7 Mix the material thoroughly.

8 Cover the mould with cellophane sheet and place it in a dry place for 3-7 days.

9 After 7 days take the mix out of the mould and leave it to dry in refrigerator
sothat the mix will get dry.
10 After drying take the sample and heat it in the oven so that bacteria will die.
11 Now we have got the brick.

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Fig 4.4 Add in jelly in mycelium

Trial-4

1 Take the mycelium that is grown in trial -2.

2 As after the third trial the brick is not enough to be tested on compressive
strengthmachine.
3 Now to make the brick hard we added some percent of white cement.

4 For this we added 30 % white cement in the mycelium and let it get hardened.

5 After the brick got hardened we placed the brick in the oven.

6 Heating it in 4000 C to kill the bacteria of the brick.

7 Now we have got the sample block.

8 Then we have tested as per IS: 1077:1992 and IS: 3495: 1992 Testing of bricks.

9 Now according to the IS Code test there are three test on brick.

10 The results of the tests performed are shown in chapter 4.

fig 4.5 mycelium brick

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5. TESTING ON MYCELIUM BRICK

5.1 COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH TEST

After hardening of the brick, the compressive strength test on hardened mycelium bricks were
performed on the compressive testing machine as shown in figure 3.5. Two bricks were tested of
different sizes. Fig 3.8 shows the compression testing machine.

Fig 5.1 Compression Testing Machine

Fig 5.2 Compression Testing On Mycelium Brick

5.2 EFFLORESCENCE TEST

The efflorescence test was done on the test sample. This test was done to check the
concentration of the salts of magnesium, Calcium, Sodium and Potassium on the brick. It is

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the white power that is covered on the brick when it gets reacted by water and sun. As
efflorescence alone is not a problem but it is the reason of many problems like water
intrusion, Structural damage and health problems etc., Efflorescence can be removed by dry
brushing and washing repeatedly. For the Test procedure refer Appendix A-2. To check which
brick has less efflorescence mycelium brick or Standard brick we have tested both the bricks
for the efflorescence test.
5.3 WATER ABSORPTION TEST
The water absorption test was done on the mycelium bricks. This test was done to check that
how much amount of water the mycelium brick can resist. For this test we have done water
absorption test on both brick. And Note down the reading. The reading and results are given in
chapter 6. And the test procedure is given in the Appendix A-3. As if the brick absorbs more
water than the weight of the brick increased which also increases the dead load of the building.
Also it can cause the problem of seepage from the structure.

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6. RESULTS

The experimental results are presented and discussed. Each of the compressive strength test
data points plotted in various graphs or stated in various Tables corresponds to the mean value
of the compressive strengths of the two brick samples. The chapter shows the effect of various
salient parameters on the compressive strength of mycelium bricks is discussed. Various test
results of efflorescence and water absorption on mycelium brick and standard tile brick are
also given.
6.1 TEST RESULTS
6.1.1 Compressive Test Results
Tests show that the unit weight of the mycelium brick is lighter than the standard tile brick. The
tile brick compressive strength test carried out as per IS 3495-1992 part 1 and all observations
were presented in table 1

S. No Compressive Strength Compressive StrengthOf

Of Mycelium Bricks In Tile Brick In N/Mm2
N/Mm2
1. 12.2 7.2
2. 13.5 8.0

Table 1 Compressive Strength of Mycelium Brick and Standard Tile Brick

fig 6.1 Compression Testing Result on Mycelium

Brick

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Fig 6.2 Mycelium Brick Sample 1

Fig 6.3 Mycelium Brick Sample 2

6.1.2 Efflorescence Test Results

Test shows that there is slight efflorescence in case of mycelium bricks. In case of Normal AA
class Bricks the efflorescence is slight. Table 2 shows the efflorescence test on mycelium brick
and standard tile brick.

SL. No Efflorescence of Efflorescence of

standard brick mycelium brick
1 Moderate Slight

Table 2 Efflorescence Test on Mycelium Brick and Standard Tile Brick

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6.1.3 Water Absorption Test

The water absorption on the plastic bricks is 10.50% but in Normal brick this value is up
to 11.56%. Table 3 shows the water absorption of mycelium brick and standard tile brick.

S. No Water absorptionon Water absorptionon

standard brick mycelium brick

1 11.56% 10.50%

Table 3 Water Absorption of Mycelium Brick and Standard Tile Brick

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7. MYCELIUM AS CONSTRUCTION MATERIAL

7.1 ADVANTAGES
1 It is 100% biodegradable, hence temporary set-ups, installations can be easily erected
anddemolished based on usage.
2 Mycelium tissue can trap more heat than fiberglass insulation; it is also fireproof and non-
toxic.
3 When dried, it becomes lighter due to porosity formation, but it is still stronger poundfor
pound than concrete.
4 The production of mycelium is not time-consuming. It is fast, low-cost and easily produced
material.
5 There is almost no need for a bonding material since, when two mycelium bricks are placed
together, they rapidly spread amongst them and become a bonding material.
If maintained in favorable and stable conditions, mycelium bricks can have a lifespanof approximately
20 years.

7.2 DISADVANTAGES

1 The capacity of resisting water decreases over time and thus the mycelium bricks
becomevulnerable to mould and humidity over time.

2 Mycelium bricks cannot be used for long term structures due to its decreasing
resistance towards water, humidity and mould growth.

3 Usually no coating is required under normal climatic conditions, mycelium bricks

expand, contract and relax according to the weather and when they remain untouched
from ground. If they touch the ground, there is moisture absorption that takes place,
lowering the efficiency of the mycelium bricks.

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8. FUTURE SCOPE

To date the mycelium was not so normal but rather on future premise there is part of utilization
of mycelium in numerous development materials. Like it can supplant the thermocol that are
utilized for protection and numerous different works Additionally it can supplant wood since the
mycelium can utilized to develop engineered wood and that wood is considerably more grounded
than ordinary wood and furthermore it will supplant cowhide as the calfskin we develop from
mycelium are substantially more grounded and no longer creature skin is required to develop
calfskin. Many things can be made of the mycelium. In future there is immense utilization of
mycelium in development and in different things.

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9. CONCLUSIONS

This seminar presented a brief overall review on mycelium bricks using mycelium the root part
of mushroom. The strength depends on the content of mycelium. And also this project has social
benefits also like if it is used to grow leather than no longer need of animal skin to make
leather. Also if it used to grow synthetic wood than the deforestation will be very less as it is
stronger than wood The economic benefits and contribution of mycelium bricks for sustainable
development are also been outlined.

Since the mycelium brick is a whole new concept of bricks with new technology no Indian
Standards are available, so a detailed study on the chemistry behind the mycelium bricks is
needed. Now a detailed study thereafter should be needed for making of bricks cheaper and
useful than that of standard brick so it can be introduced into the market. Also there a detailed
study is need on a method to grow mycelium faster.

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REFERENCES
1. Alireza javadian(2020)”Application of mycelium bound composite materials in construction
industry”SOJ materials science& engineering,Vol 10,issue 3.

2. Mitchelljones(2020) engineering mycelium composite construction materias from fungal

biorefineries”materials & design, 1-16.

3. Yusnani Hajar Arifin(2013) mycelium fibres as new resource for environmental

sustainability.0

Mechanical and manufacturing engineering,504-508.

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