US2811442A - Sheets comprising filaments of fungi - Google Patents

Description

SHEETS COMPRISING FILAMENTS OF FUNGI 2,81 1,442 F atented Oct. 29, 1957 Sheets comprised of mycellia alone and dried in the air or by dry heat tend to become brittle. We have found, however, that the addition of small amounts of cellulose fiber, which in effect, provides a plasticizer,

ng Van Ham and Bernard E Shema, Appleton, 5 permits the manufacture of a very satisfactory sheet.

Wis, William H. Shockley, Camas, Wash., and Julian H. Conkey, Appleton, Wis., assignors to The Institute of Paper Chemistry, Appleton, Wis., a corporation of Wisconsin N Drawing. Application April 12, 1954, Serial No. 422,652

12 Claims. (C1 92 -3) The present invention relates generally to the use of mycelium in the manufacture of sheets and it also relates to the use of mycelium in the manufacture of paper.

In order to have a clear understanding of the invention and in view of some disagreement among botanists as to terminology, it is necessary to detail some of the general background of the invention. As is well known, life on earth may be considered to be divided between the animal and the plant kingdoms. Within the plant kindom, there are included two phyla, one being known as Sperma-tophyta and the other being known as Thallophyta.

The Spermatophyta embraces the highest plants, or those that produce seeds, such as trees. It is from this phylum of the plant kingdom that paper and paper products, as we know them today, are made. Sirch products are produced from the sclerenchy'ma which includes, in the case of trees, fibers. The fibers, in the course of paper making, are generally matted or felted together to provide a sheet. The present invention is not directed to this phylum of the plant kingdom.

The Tha-llophyta are arather diverse group of plants and for purposes of this specification are considered to include fungi, algae, bacteria, lichens and slirn'e molds. Since the present application relates primarily to fungi, the other divisions of Thallophyta are mentioned for classification purposes.

Fungi, by definition, include plants which do not contain chlorophyl and are typically saprophytic and/or parasitic in nature; these fungi reprodu'ce sexually and asexually through spores developed in various ways. Fungi comprise the classes of Phycornycetes, Ascomycetes and Basidiomycetes. For purposes of this specification, fungi also include Fungi Imperfecti and, it should be understood that they further include the Schi zomycet'es' (bacteria) and Myxornycetes (slime molds).

While the structures of fungi vary considerably, thethallus may be filamentous in character. On the other hand, the thallus may be non-filamentous in structure. The mycelium is the filamentous portion of the thallus of fungi, as used in this specification; and consists of a mass of interwoven hyphae.

The principal object of the present invention is the provision of a method of manufacture of filamentous fungi and to provide new materials comprising. such fungi. This and other objects of the invention may be accomplished through growing fungi under controlled conditions or recovering substantially pure filaments of fungi from nature, and manufacturing such fungi into sheets or utilizing them in the manufacture of paper and paper products having improved properties.

In the practice of the present invention, substantially pure filaments of fungi are prepared and disintegrated in substantially the same manner as in the manufacture of paper. The disintegrated fungi may be suspended in water and then made into a sheet;- In'a'ddition, the fungi may be combined with cellulose fibers which are then made into a sheet.

. innit squarecopper rods and extending from a pointctie The amount of cellulose fiber can be varied to provide the desired amount of pliability.

A sheet fabricated from mycelia, with as little as ten percent, by weight, cellulose fibers, has unusual flexibility and, while sheets which have so far been made have somewhat less strength than comparable paper sheets, the characteristics of the sheet are much the same. Furthermore, when the sheet is subjected to heat or pressure, or both, a continuous film is formed which is both transparent and flexible. Paper sheets including the mycelia have high gloss and good printing characteristics which makes the mycelia valuable as a sizing agent. Furthermore, the addition of mycelia to wood pulp makes possible the manufacture of paper and paper products having flame resistant properties.

It will be seen from the foregoing that we have not only provided a wholly new product but also have provided a product for improving the characteristics of aper.

While various media may be employed for growing the mycelia, certain conditions are preferably followed to provide mycelia having the desired characteristics. To illustrate the manner of growing the myce'lia, a particular medium is disclosed. The medium should be sterile topr'event formation of undesired Thallophyta or other phylum. The particular medium used comprised 1000 milliliters of tap Water; 20 grams of dextrose; 3.0 grams of ammonium nitrate; 3.0 grams of potassium hydrogenphosphate; .25 gram of potassium chloride; .25 gram of hydrated magnesium sulfate (MgSOrr-7H20'); .O l' gram of Zinc sulfate; and 5.0 grams of glycerine. The medium was placed in a sterile container and sterile air was diffused through it. The medium was inoculated with a Ph'ycom-ycetes of the order Mucoral'e's.

The air was diffused through the medium for about 70 hours, the temperature being maintained between F. and F. At the end of this time a yield of 5 grams (dry basis) per liter of medium was obtained.

It is of substantial importance that the air be continuously diffused through the medium at such a rate during growth as to maintain the myce'lium in a filamentous cond-itiona In one run, the air was diffused in four liters of the medium in a six liter bottle at the rate of 2 to 8 cubic feet per minute at standard temperature-pressure conditions.

After the filaments have" been produced in the medium, they are filtered or'centrifuged out, and washed with water and may then be washed with a' mild acid or mild alkaline solution, following which, they may be then again washed with water. The filaments may be boiled or left unboiled. I

Following washing; the myceli'umis placed in a beating machine or disinte'grat'or and Water added to make up a two to five percent myceliummixture. The mycelium is thendisintegratedt The degree of disintegration is dl fii cult to specify but it is carried out to the point where a good'sheet may be produced. In this connection, the dilute mixture of myceliumwas placed in a TAlPI stand ard disintegrator and beaten for about forty seconds at 3000' R. P.

The-TAPPI disin-t'egrat'or comprises a container in which,

is disposed a propeller. The container is cylindrical in shape and hasa diameter measuring six inches. In height the container measures seven and one-half inches. Fo'u spiral baflies are attached to the inside wall of, the con tainer; the; baiii'es Being manufactured from one-quarto and one-quarter inches from the bottom of the container to a point two and one-quarter inches from the top of the container. Each baffie spirals around one-half of the circumference of the container.

The propeller of the disintegrator is built up from three hard brass blades set 120 degrees apart. In diameter, the propeller measures about three and one-half inches and the propeller is one inch from the bottom of the container. The blades slope 2 degrees upwardly to thereby throw the stock downwardly. A suitable motor and drive mechanism is provided for rotating the blades at 3000 R. P. M.

After disintegration, the mycelium mixture is further diluted to a one-half to three-quarter percent mixture and passed through a Fourdrinier wire to make what is known as a hand sheet. This is done in accordance with well known practices.

The sheet may be subjected to heat and pressure thereby becoming practically transparent. In this connection, when the sheet is subjected to 250 pounds per square inch and a temperature of 240 degrees Fahrenheit, for ten minutes, the transparent character becomes apparent. It appears from this that the mycelia may be thermoplastic in nature. The amount of heat and/ or pressure required may be readily determined by tests to provide the degree of transparency desired.

In order to give mycelia sheets improved flexibility, a plasticizing agent should be added. In this connection, wood pulp provides an excellent plasticizer. We have found that when ten percent wood pulp is added to the mycelia, the resulting sheet has good pliability.

Sheets made from mycelia and from a combination mycelia and wood pulp have good flame resistance when compared to paper. In this connection, the sheets will not sustain a flame. Furthermore, the sheets have good writing and printing properties.

In addition, sheets of mycelia with small amounts of wood fiber have comparable bursting strength to that of sheets made with wood fiber. When a mycelium sheet was prepared with Mucorales and about seven percent bleached jack pine kraft fibers, and compared with a sheet containing one hundred percent of such fibers, the bursting strength, by the Mullen test, of the mycelium sheet was only slightly less than that of the paper sheet.

The mycelia sheets also have a comparable tensile strength to paper sheets, when wet or dry. However, the mycelia sheets have substantially increased stretch when compared to fiber sheets. in this connection, when the above described sheets were compared, the mycelium sheet had approximately four times the stretch of the paper sheet.

While the mycelia may be used to provide a sheet having many desirable qualities, it may be also employed in paper manufacture as a sizing agent and to improve wet strength. Thus, the mycelia may be added to wood pulp in varying amounts to provide a sheet, in a normal paper manufacturing operation which includes calendaring or other heat or pressure conditions, having high gloss. This characteristic occurs even though other plasticizers, such as glycerine, are added. As indicated, addition of mycelia also appears to improve the Wet strength of the paper. It has been found that high gloss and increased wet strength are provided by the addition of ten percent mycelia.

As pointed out, this invention is directed to the use of mycelia of the Phycomycetes, Ascomycetes, Basidiomycetes, and Fungi Imperfecti classes, and the filamentous forms of Myxomycetes and Schizomycetes. However, we have obtained most satisfactory results from mycelia in the Phycomycetes class and, insofar as our experiments have gone, the Mucorales type appears to give best results.

While the mycelia may be obtained from various natural fungi such as aquatic fungi, mushrooms, conks, etc., we have found it quite difficult to purify and separate out the mycelia. Accordingly, it appears necessary to artificially prepare the mycelium. In addition, such artificial preparation seems to be the most economical way of preparing the mycelia. In this connection and as pointed out above, through artificial production of the mycelia, the filamentous conditionmay be maintained so as to thereby make possible higher yields.

It will be apparent from the foregoing that we have provided a wholly new type of sheet which is made from a material which has heretofore been considered to be largely valueless. In addition, the product has been found to provide certain desired properties to paper when used in connection with the manufacture of paper.

The various features of our invention, which are believed to be new, are set forth in the following claims.

We claim:

1. A hi hly flexible, high gloss sheet having writing and printing properties similar to paper sheets comprising filaments of fungi in amounts in excess of about 10 percent of the weight of the sheet, the remaining portion of said sheet comprising papermaking fibers.

2. A highly flexible, high gloss sheet having writing and printing properties similar to paper sheets comprising mycelia from the Phycomycetes class in amounts in excess of about 10 percent of the weight of the sheet, the remaining portion of said sheet comprising papermaiting fibers.

3. A highly flexible, high gloss sheet having writing and printing properties similar to paper sheets comprising mycelia from the Mucorales order of Phycomycetes in amounts in excess of about 10 percent of the weight of the sheet, the remaining portion of said sheet comprising papermaking fibers.

4. A highly flexible, high gloss sheet, having writing and printing properties similar to paper sheets, consisting of filaments of fungi.

5. A highly flexible, high gloss sheet having writing and printing properties similar to paper sheets comprising mycelia and wood fibers, the mycelia comprising in excess of about 10 percent of the weight of the sheet, the remaining portion of said sheet comprising wood fibers.

6. A highly flexible, substantially transparent sheet having writing and printing properties of paper sheets comprising mycelia, the mycelia comprising in excess of about percent of the weight of the sheet, and less than 10 percent wood fibers.

7. A highly flexible, high gloss paper sheet including filaments of fungi, the fungi comprising at least 10 percent of the weight of the sheet, the remaining portion of said sheet comprising papermaking fibers.

8. A highly flexible, high gloss paper sheet including mycelia from the Mucorales order of Phycomycetes, the mycelia comprising in excess of 10 percent of the weight of the sheet, the remaining portion of said sheet comprising papermaking fibers.

9. A highly flexible, substantially transparent sheet, having writing and printing properties similar to paper sheets, comprising more than about 90 percent mycelia of the Phycomycetes class and papermaking fibers.

10. A highly flexible, high gloss sheet having writing and printing properties similar to paper sheets comprising mycelia from the Basidiomycetes class in amounts in excess of about 10 percent of the weight of the sheet, the remaining portion of said sheet comprising papermaking fibers.

11. A highly flexible, high gloss sheet having writing and printing properties similar to paper sheets comprising mycelia from the Ascomycetes class in amounts in excess of about 10 percent of the weight of the sheet, the remaining portion of said sheet comprising papermaking fibers.

12. A highly flexible, high gloss sheet having writing and printing properties similar to paper sheets comprising mycelia from the Fungi Imperfecti class in amounts in excess of about 10 percent of the weight of the sheet,

the remaining portion of said sheet comprising paper- 2,578,695 7 making fibers. 2,596,969 2,600,504 References Cited in the file of this patent 2,654,671 UNITED STATES PATENTS 5 2,698,307

717,274 Reardon Dec. 30, 1902 1,708,586 Millington Apr. 9, 1929 2,480,851 Goss Sept. 6, 1949 2,485,587 Goss Oct. 25, 1949 10 2,564,889 Folkers Aug. 21, 1951 2,571,693 Dulaney Oct. 16, 1951 6 Goss Dec. 18, 1951 Hendin May 20, 1952 Leeds et a1. June 17, 1952 Azorlosa Oct. 6, 1953 Heritage Dec. 28, 1954 OTHER REFERENCES Antibiotics, vol. H, p. 721, published by Oxford University Press, New York (1949).

Gadd, Institute of Paper Chemistry Bulletin, vol. 21, p. 620, May 1951.

Claims (1)

1. A HIGHLY FLEXIBLE, HIGH GLOSS SHEET HAVING WRITING AND PRINTING PROPERTIES SIMILAR TO PAPER SHEETS COMPRISINGNG FILAMENTS OF FUNGI IN AMOUNTS IN EXCESS OF ABOUT 10 PERCENT OF THE WEIGHT OF THE SHEET,THE REMAINING PORTION OF SAID SHEET COMPRISING PAPERMAKING FIBERS.