MYCELIUM BRICK

SEMINARREPORT

submitted by

HANNA SUSAN BABU

MGP18CE039
to

the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University

in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the Degree

of

Bachelor of Technology
in
Civil Engineering

In Department of Civil Engineering

SAINTGITS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

Kottukulam Hills, Pathamuttom P.O., Kottayam 686 532

November 2021
 DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENGINEERING
SAINTGITS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING
Kottukulam Hills, Pathamuttom P.O., Kottayam 686 532.
(Approved by AICTE and affiliated to APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University)

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the Project seminar report of the eighth semester entitled
“MYCELIUM BRICKS” submitted by HANNA SUSAN BABU (Reg. No:
MGP18CE039) to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University in partial fulfillment
of the requirements for the award of the Degree of Bachelor of Technology in Civil
Engineering, is a bonafide record of the seminar presented by her under our guidance and
supervision.

Seminar Guide Seminar Coordinator

Er. Minu Antony Er. Pinky Merin Philip

Assistant professor Assistant Professor
Department of Civil Engineering Department of Civil Engineering
Saintgits College of Engineering Saintgits College of Engineering

Dean of Department Head of Department

Dr. Soosan George T Dr. Reebu Z. Koshy

Professor Professor
Department of Civil Engineering DepartmentofCivil Engineering
Saintgits College of Engineering Saintgits College of Engineering
 CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION

1.1 GENERAL

Mycelium is the vegetative piece of growth or fungus-like bacterial settlement, comprising

mass spreading, string-like hyphae. The mass of hyphae is now and then called shiro.
Contagious states made out of mycelium are found in soil and numerous substrates. The
production of construction materials consumes energy and pollutes water, air, land. High
requirement of energy leads to manufacturing the highest levels of insulation, higher density
Materials, advanced technologies to utilize. Building insulation takes a major role in
developing thermal comfort, health, pollution and reduces the heating and cooling energy
consumptions, emissions of carbon. Insulation materials are produced by fossil fuel-based,
mined materials. To find an alternative way to go eco-friendly. The rapid growth of the
global population has been resulted in increasing food demand, growing agricultural output,
giving way to the initiation of agricultural by-products and their wastes such as sugarcane
bagasse, straw, rice husks, stover, cotton stalk. Mycelium-derived materials have many
advantages over traditional synthetic materials including their cost-effectiveness, density,
energy expenditure, in addition to their environment-friendly and energy-saving, carbon
footprint. The ongoing application of mycelium materials primarily stems from their natural
foam-like mechanical properties, high water absorption. These limitations make advanced
research and development of these materials necessary applications, such as insulation,
flooring, door cores, paneling, cabinetry, and other furnishings. 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 natural materials like soil, thatch/leaves, timber, etc. lead to
the exploration for durable building materials ever since man started construction activity.
Burning bricks is one of the oldest and earliest methods adopted using thermal energy for the
manufacturing of durable building materials. Lime and lime-based products, metal products
represent the other manufactured energy-consuming materials used for the construction.

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 CHAPTER 2
NEED OF STUDY

2.1 NEED
In the current scenario there is a lot of need of a construction material that is cheap and
environment friendly. For this purpose mycelium bricks are the best choice because they are
grown not made. Besides of making brick mycelium can be used in many different things it
can be used to grow structural frame to replace concrete. Also it can be used to make chairs,
table all can be grown from mycelium. It can replace thermocol. And there is many usage of
this technique in the future. It is a very vast topic of research.
To study the compressive strength of mycelium brick made of sawdust, rice husk/wheat, or
crushed bamboo and study about
To study the fire resistance capacity of the mycelium brick made up of different materials
To compare the ordinary clay brick and mycelium brick with efflorescence test

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 CHAPTER 3

LITERATURE REVIEW

3.1 THEORETICAL SURVEY

Kishan et al (2018) has studied that the vegetative part of a fungus can be used in
differentarchitectural design but he wanted to use the fungal material to create more everyday
products.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
are providing harmful effect on our environment. Many researchers are doing work on it
some of them has used the mycelium as a binding material.

Xing et al (2018) in his studies on mushroom mycelium has gone one step forward with
Architect Dirk Hebel and Engineer Philippe Block by using fungi to build self-supporting
structure. Hebel who led the Sustainable Construction unit at Karlsruhe Institute of
technology, and Block who founded the Block Research group at ETH Zurich, have created
the tree shaped structure consisting almost entirely of mycelium. According to them, the
material – which is formed from the root network of mushrooms – could provide the structure
of a two-storey building, if it is designed with the right geometries.

Santhosh et al (2018) in his study has developed a technique for using mushroom mycelium
as an environment friendly construction material. He has have developed Mushroom
Materials to provide a natural alternative to traditional plastics and synthetic packaging. The
product contains mycelium, the vegetative part of a mushroom fungus, which is natural glue.
This material binds with crop waste like seed husks and corn stalks to form a bioplastics.
Unlike normal plastics, which are made from petrochemicals, Mushroom Materials are plant-
based and fully compostable.

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CHAPTER 4
SCOPE

4
 CHAPTER 5
OBJECTIVE
Mycelium brick is a great replacement against standard modular bricks. As the Bricks are
environment 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 are providing
harmful effects on our environment. Many researchers are doing work on it some of them has
used the mycelium as a binding material. So, in spite of bricks, there is a lot of uses for
mycelium in the future.

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 CHAPTER 6
METHODOLOGY
Preparation of potato dextrose agar (PDA): Take 5gm of PDA and dissolve it completely
in water. Heat the above mix till it forms a normal consistency. Allow it to cool to room
temperature. Transfer the PDA into a conical flask and cover its mouth with cotton to prevent
water from entering it. Place the conical flask inside a Le Chatelier Water Bath for
sterilization. Sterilize it for 30minutes. Remove the conical flask from the water bath , cool it,
and transfer it to Petri dishes for further use.

Growth of mycelium in the presence of PDA: The PDA is transferred to Petri dish for the
cultivation of mycelium. Some of the spawns from the spawn bag are transferred to the Petri
dish such that the entire spawn is immersed in the PDA. The Petri dish is further covered and
left for 3 to 4 days for the growth of mycelium. The temperature is maintained to be around
26-270 degree Celsius.

Growth phase of the mycelium: The substrate bag must be kept in a cool place and should
avoid direct contact of sunlight. A temperature of 25-270 C must be maintained throughout
the growth phase of mycelium. Preferably these bags are kept in an air- conditioned room
with water sprinkled on the floor and on the walls. Proper air ventilation must be provided for
a better growth. Intensive growth of the mycelium fibers can be observed after 7 to 15 days
White patches are seen in the bag on the substrate ,this indicate the growth of mycelium

Extraction of mycelium fibers from the polythene bag: Once the entire bag turns white
due to the growth of mycelium it can be used for compaction for the formation of a brick.
The entire substrate along with mycelium is taken out of the bag for compaction. Parts which
has more growth are opted over normal areas and patchy areas.

Placing the mycelium fibers into a mould: The selected mycelium hyphe are placed in
layers in a mould. After the preparation of mould this is kept aside for about 7days for it to
grow completely after which this brick will be burnt and taken for strength test.

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Burning of bricks in a hot air oven: The obtained brick must be burnt in a hot air oven at
100 degree Celsius for about 30 to 45 minutes. The temperature must be increased gradually
and continuous evaluation must be done. After 30 to 40 minutes,the bricks must be taken out
of oven and let for cooling.