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Flexible electronic technology is becoming more and more popular due to its potential applications in sensors, medical equipment, and soft robotics. In order to explore the possibility of manufacturing equipment with pure mycelium or mycelium composite materials, a paper was published on arXiv*.

Research: Fungal Electronics. Photo Credit: Cheng Wei/Shutterstock.com

Flexible electronic devices have shown great potential in many industries due to their ability to withstand mechanical deformation, cost, sustainability, and low-level perception characteristics. Devices are usually made of flexible materials embedded with electronic components that are capable of tactile sensing.

Image source: Adamatzky, A et al., axriv

There are many designs of flexible electronic devices. Typical designs include thin-film pressure sensors and transistors embedded in materials such as polymers and multilayer graphene. Hybrid electrodes can be printed to provide piezoresistive pressure sensing or EMG recording applications. Other designs include devices with inherently conductive polymer-filled channels. In recent years, research has been conducted on components that enable flexible devices to be self-powered.

Although typical flexible electronic devices have superior mechanical and electrical properties, they lack the ability to self-repair or grow. Having these characteristics will be very beneficial for flexible electronic devices, and will help to develop applications in fields such as "living" architecture, self-growing soft robots, and smart material development. In order to overcome these problems, components based on biological organisms have been explored.

In order to explore the potential of flexible and smart electronic products with self-repair and growth characteristics, the team behind arXiv research investigated the development and application of various fungal electronic devices. Research includes the exploration of fungal memristors, electronic oscillators, sensors that can detect pressure, chemical and optical changes, and electronic analog computers.

Memristors are resistors with memory capabilities. In a memristor, the resistance depends on the past signal waveform of the current on it. The state-dependent Ohm's law governs the function of the memristor. Memristors can be used to provide functions that are not possible with standard resistors, capacitors, or inductors. Another term for memristors is resistance switching devices, which contain two or three terminals.

In the research, the focus is on using P. ostractus fruiting bodies to make fungal memristors. Ideally, the crossover point of the memristor is 0V. By connecting an electrode to the fruit body, a signal was recorded at this voltage, proving that the fungal body can generate an electric current. Therefore, it is concluded that the fungal body can be used as a potential memristor.

(a) Examples of high amplitude and high frequency spikes. (b) Apply potential oscillation under 10 V DC, in which the analyzed peak is marked with "*". Image source: Adamatzky, A et al., axriv

In the oscillator, direct current is converted to alternating current. In order to study the potential of the fungal oscillator, the team conducted a series of experiments by applying a DC voltage to the fungal substrate of P. ostractus and measuring the output voltage. The results of these experiments demonstrate the obvious voltage spikes using the mycelium binding complex. The conclusion is that the fungus can be used as an extremely low frequency electronic oscillator for the design of biological circuits.

The study used substrate blocks colonized by G. resinaceum. A 16 kg weight was placed on the substrate block with electrodes to measure the electrical activity of the fungal composite material under pressure.

The recorded electrical spikes indicate that the fungal composite can detect when cast iron weights are resting on it and when they are removed, and the team concluded that the fungal composite can be used as an organic-based pressure sensor and a component of fungi. Building materials.

By using G.resinaceum skin, the study proved the possibility of using mycelial composites in light sensors. The response of the fungus to light causes the baseline potential to rise, and the response does not subside until the light stops. The study concluded that fungi show electrical potential changes in response to light, promoting their potential use as actuators and logic circuits with light input.

The response of fungi to light stimuli. (a) Photo of the electrode inserted into the fungal skin. (b) An exemplary response of fungal skin to light, recorded on three pairs of differential electrodes. "L*" means application lighting, and "Lo" lighting is off. (c) A series of spikes on an elevated potential as a response to light. Image source: Adamatzky, A et al., axriv

Cannabis colonized with P. ostractus hyphae was used to test the response of the fungal composite to chemical stimuli. Composite materials respond to these stimuli by increasing the frequency of their potential spikes. Although research shows that this shows great potential, it points to the need for research to calibrate these materials.

The study used Aspergillus niger fungal strains to study the use of fungi as components of electronic simulation computers. It was found that mycelium combined with composite materials can realize a series of Boolean circuits, demonstrating their potential in hybrid and biological simulation calculations.

This research extends its experimental research and proposes several potential applications for fungal materials. It proposes medical applications such as sensing and computing elements embedded in mycelial composite materials, reservoir calculation of sensing devices, determination of organ status and classification of breast tissue, which will provide innovative solutions for disease diagnosis and treatment.

Adamatzky, A etc. (2021) Fungi Electronics [Online] axriv.org. Available at: https://arxiv.org/abs/2111.11231

arXiv publishes preliminary scientific reports that have not been peer-reviewed and therefore should not be considered conclusive or confirmed information.

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Reg Davey is a freelance writer and editor based in Nottingham, UK. Writing for news medicine represents a fusion of various interests and fields in which he has been interested and involved for many years, including microbiology, biomedical sciences, and environmental sciences.

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