Exploring the feasibility of mycelium-based cups as a sustainable alternative to single-use beverage cups
Bibliographic record
Abstract
Disposable paper (DP) cups, a staple in on-the-go beverage culture, contribute to environmental challenges due to their non-biodegradable polyethylene (PE) liners. This research presents an eco-friendly alternative by harnessing fungal mycelium combined with North American wetland biomass. The study evaluates three fungal species—Ganoderma lucidum, Pleurotus ostreatus, and Polyporus squamosus—cultivated on canola straw (Brassica napus L.) and cattail substrates (Typha latifolia) to produce mycelium composite materials. Among these, Ganoderma lucidum demonstrated superior mycelial growth and structural integrity when paired with cattail substrate over a 14-day period. Initial growth assessment was conducted using Potato Dextrose Agar (PDA), with further optimization through Yeast Extract Peptone Dextrose Broth (YEPDB) liquid media. The research explored the production of compostable coffee cups and mycelium sheets using a 3D poly-lactic acid (PLA) mold and aluminum foil, respectively. Mycelium composites were harvested at two growth intervals (2 weeks and 4 weeks) and analyzed for their morphological, chemical, thermo-mechanical, crystallinity, thermodynamic, and mechanical properties. The resulting composites exhibited notable thermal stability exceeding 267°C, low thermal conductivity (0.03-0.04 Wm⁻¹K⁻¹), and inherent hydrophobicity with a water contact angle surpassing at 100°. However, the mechanical properties, such as Young's modulus, were significantly lower than those of commercial coffee cup paper, with values of 11.27 MPa and 80.91 MPa for the 2-week and 4-week samples, respectively, compared to 1349.35 MPa for standard coffee cup paper. These findings demonstrate that cattail can serve as a viable substrate for producing mycelium-based bio-composites, suitable for applications requiring thermal stability and hydrophobicity.
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How this classification was reachedexpand
Full frame machine prediction
Teacher imitationNot calibrated prevalence, not ground truth. Human validation pending. The Gemma side is a direct model label for every work in the frame, read from the title-only record. The Codex side is a classifier learned from the 10,348 direct Codex labels and calibrated to design-weighted sample rates; fields without enough sample support carry no Codex call. Candidate is the union of the two sides; consensus is their intersection. These outputs are machine_predicted_unvalidated and are not human labels.
Distilled classifier scores by category (both heads)
| Category | Codex | Gemma |
|---|---|---|
| Metaresearch | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (narrow) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Meta-epidemiology (broad) | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Bibliometrics | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Science and technology studies | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Scholarly communication | 0.001 | 0.000 |
| Open science | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Research integrity | 0.000 | 0.000 |
| Insufficient payload (model declined to judge) | 0.001 | 0.000 |
Machine scores (provisional)
The two teacher heads of the student model, read on this work. A score orders the frame for review; it never asserts a category, and the validation status ships verbatim with every row.
Baseline scores from an immature model (maturity gate not passed, 7 training rounds). Scores rank; they never assert a category.
score_only:v0-immature-baseline · verbatim from the scoring run: score_only means the number may rank works, and no category label ships from itClassification
machine, unvalidatedMachine predicted; a candidate call from one source (direct Gemma or distilled Codex), not a consensus.
How this classification was reached, model by model and score by score, is at the end of the page under "How this classification was reached".